Set in India, contains a train scene

Hi, I few years ago on an exam they had short excerpts from various books that we then had to answer reading comprehension problems on.
Usually these are respected texts, but unlikely to have been read by high school students.
This particular excerpt takes place on a train in India. I think it is told in first person. The protagonist is a man, possibly in his 20s and he's sitting across from an older man and his daughter and another traveller. The other traveller has a sore throat and so can only whisper so they protagonist also whispers causing the older man to believe that they are talking about his daughter.
I can't remember much of what happens next, does this sound familiar to anyone?

Was it fiction or non-fiction? If the latter, then it might be The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux. That's a bit of a guess, since I don't remember the scene, but Theroux is popular with high school teachers.

Could it be A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry? I don't recall the exact scene you mention, but there are several train passages, and that event could perhaps have occurred. This book is not an easy book to read and lots of people conflicts and misunderstandings occur throughout the story.

I have a vague recollection of reading the scene you describe somewhere, this book seems the most likely of my recent readings.

Please let us know when you figure out the book. Thanks & good luck.

Thank you both. I think it may be A Fine Balance, particularly since it was written by a Canadian and they tend to like to include at least one Canadian author on the exam. I looked it up on Amazon but the writing style doesn't seem to be the same as I remember it. Next time I'm in a book store I'll check it out. Thank you!

I will add A Division of the Spoils, the last book of the Raj Quartet by Paul Scott. All four of the books in the series have numerous train scenes and are set in India.

I read A Fine Balance recently and what you describe certainly sounds like this novel.

User kaionvin recently posted a request in this group for a collection of short stories set in India, one of which involves a train ride. Maybe one of the suggestions there can point you to the excerpt you're looking for.

Also, given that you know exactly where you read the story, I suggest you start your inquiry there: try to get in touch with the teacher who set up the exam and ask them.

It's been a little while since I read, but it reminds me a teeny bit of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. There are a few scenes that take place on a train in that novel, some in the US and some in India.