Rahul Bhattacharya’s new novel takes you across stories along the railway tracks

Journalist Rahul Bhattacharya’s new novel, Railsong, tracks one woman’s life across rail lines to reflect India’s shifting soul

How many times have you been welcomed in an Indian city by a bird pooping on you? That’s how Rahul Bhattacharya’s heroine is welcomed in Mumbai at Victoria Terminus. In his latest book, Railsong, Bhattacharya takes you across different stories attached to the railway tracks , with hints of humour and realism. Set to release on November 4 in India, the book follows the protagonist Charulata Chitol or Charu, for decades, starting from a railway colony in the late 1950s and ending in 1992.

Charu’s story only truly begins when she runs away from a railway township and steps out of Victoria Terminus into Mumbai’s chaos, only to have a pigeon poop on her head. It’