Ode to the Railways
By PRAVEEN TRIPATHI I am crazy about the Railways. If a new Indian Railway timetable has come out and if I don’t have it in 10 days, I get a withdrawal symptom! Many a time in the course of the month, half an hour before going to bed, I will pick up a Railway time table and read it. I feel you can learn so much about the geography and history of a country by understanding the Railways. My fascination with the Railways is serious - I am officially a part of the Indian Railway Fan Club Association (IRFCA). Last year, I even attended an IRFCA commission in Kolkata. At this meet, some 15 presentations were made on Indian Railways. Surprisingly, about 10-12 of them were by expats or NRIs. Two that struck me the most were: one about trains in Satyajit Ray movies and the other an etymology of Indian train names. The first presentation showed how the great filmmaker used trains in his movies not as a backdrop or an outdoor object as most directors do, but to elicit some specific symbolism. For example, Indian Railways ran on the AC/DC format in those days. When a train switches from the AC format to the DC, the AC motor is removed and the DC motor is placed. In Ray’s movie Nayak that released in 1966, the process is shown to symbolize the change in the hero’s life, when he exits the life of one woman and enters the life of another. The Indian Railway officials at the meet said how even they didn’t have any record of an AC/DC motor being used in the Indian Railway and this film was the only record. The other presentation went on to say that if we study the names of Indian trains, we can actually understand the history and geography of India. The trains have been named after Indian mountain ranges, rivers, cities, etc. It is an interesting analogy and worth a look. Others in the fraternity too have a good word for the Railways. Once I met Prasoon Joshi and asked him, now that he lives in Mumbai and Delhi, I could understand how he writes ad copy, but how does he get so close to the heart of India and write those soulful songs? I told him that in my view, he would have to be completely disconnected from the lifestyle he has in a metro to write such lyrics. He answered, “Once a month, I just get into any train leaving Mumbai - in any direction - and make a five-six hour journey to any small town and back. I hang around a paan shop, chat with locals at a tea shop, just merge with the life there...” He said that a train is such a microcosm of India - if you start from the unreserved compartment, go to sleeper class, then to three-tier and two-tier and first class, you will see a very different cross-section of India with different concerns. One can get a real understanding of their views on today’s issues in the train itself. This one day, Prasoon said, keeps him in touch with reality. I echo that thought. While many prefer to travel by air, I prefer trains. I still believe the Railway is the way to travel for a gentleman. I am going on a holiday to Kerala with my family. I look forward more to the beginning and the end of the journey than the holiday itself. It is a 21-hour journey one way, and in my view we will end up spending more time with each other in that AC first class compartment than we would do on the holiday. Feedback: praveen.tripathi@mnmck.com
Chief Executive, Magic9 Media & Consumer Knowledge
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