“The mere mention of the Farakka Express, which jerks its way eastward each day from Delhi to Calcutta, is enough to throw even a seasoned traveller into fits of apoplexy. At a desert encampment on Namibia's Skeleton Coast, a hard-bitten adventurer had downed a peg of local fire-water then told me the tale. Farakka was a ghost train, he said, haunted by ghouls, Thuggees, and thieves. Only a passenger with a death wish would go anywhere near it.”

British author, journalist and documentary maker

Tahir Shah is a British author, journalist, and documentary maker of Afghan-Indian descent. He is known for writing across travel, memoir, and cultural observation, drawing on his background and wide-ranging experiences. His work often explores place, identity, and the meeting of different traditions. As a journalist and filmmaker as well as an author, he has built a varied body of work, and his writing is associated with curiosity about people, landscapes, and the worlds they inhabit.