trains, trains and more trains

i've still to come across a kid who's not fascinated with trains. and this is a fascination which doesn't go away even with age. (i remember going berserk when buying a railway set complete with engines and tracks and bridges and the works. i was ostensibly buying this for my 6 year old son!)

there are many people who are passionate about trains and collect all possible information, trivia, photographs, etc that they can lay their hands on.

i think trains have an almost magical quality of making us dream and think of adventure and the unknown. it is also very romantic for many of us with visions of trains chugging into the setting sun! (i think i got a bit carried away there :-) )

i've spent most of my childhood near railway stations and trains tracks, thanks to the fact that my father was a railway employee. and because of this i can boast of having travelled and also driven in all kinds of trains and engines and trolleys.

i've even operated a turn-table which was used to turn steam engines around to point in the opposite direction. i've shovelled coal into the belly of a steam engine. i've pushed a trolley while balancing and running on the track and hopping onto the moving trolley while it is in motion just like the gang-men would do it. i've seen tokens being passed to the assistant fireman by the signal-man using a token-ring at small stations. (here's an image of the tokens and the passing with the ring.)

i consider myself very fortunate that i have been exposed to things which many children today can only dream of. the only steam engines my son knows are 'thomas and friends' which he watches on the computer or on tv. (his grandfather once made his his day when he managed to get him to sit in an electric engine with the driver at panvel station while we were waiting for our train to arrive.)

but i am sure our kids will also be saying the same things when they have had kids and are similarly reminiscing about their childhood. i wonder what memories would they be cherishing?

for those of you who are interested in trains and related pictures, you can view this album - trains & more (http://picasaweb.google.com/ckguruprasad/TrainsAndMore)

another very good resource is - IRFCA - The Indian Railways Fan Club

and if any of you have similar fond memories you would like to share with the rest of us, please send in a mail or post your comment.

why are the trains cleaner down south?

i know this posting is going to sound controversial and offend some people.

but its just another theory that i have, and i couldn't resist sharing my views with you. i mean, what choice do you have? :-)

i believe there is a strong correlation between the levels of cleanliness in our trains and literacy levels in different regions in our vast country.

i have been fortunate to have travelled by trains from pune and mumbai to most parts of the country including kerala, tamilnadu, karnataka, andhra pradesh, uttar pradesh, west bengal, gujarat, delhi, punjab, himachal pradesh, madhya pradesh, etc. and of course within maharashtra.

i have noticed a clear correlation between literacy levels and the levels of cleanliness in trains!

the trains going to or originating from states which have literacy rates higher than the national average tend to be cleaner than the trains to/from other states. therefore as a general rule the trains down south tend to be cleaner than the trains up north. do you agree?

i have come across mails earlier which tell us that we are fairly hypocritical when it comes to cleanliness. we are paranoid about cleanliness within the four walls of our homes but don't care too much when it comes to civic cleanliness.

these mails also remind us of how we are very particular about littering and using dust-bins in foreign lands while not giving a second thought to dropping the candy wrapper (or gutkha pouch/ cigarette butt, etc) on the street/pavement in our country.

but i think this is not completely correct. its a very small proportion of such people who tend to do this. i think most people who have a basic understanding of civic sense (and i firmly believe its not to do with literacy alone) are equally careful about civic cleanliness, whether they are in the country or travelling abroad.

i think, in the final reckoning, its got to do with your attitude towards your surroundings. the sense of responsibility and sensitivity that you demonstrate when you realise that all the amenities around you are meant for the general public, including you.

if this sense of belief is not deeply and strongly rooted in you, you could be easily shaken and disheartened when you see the law-enforcers and custodians of public property themselves breaking these same laws with impunity!

i think the way you and i can make a difference is by ensuring that we do not demonstrate such hypocrisy in our conduct and also ensuring that we educate the people we can in our circle of influence!

lets start with ourselves and clean up our country!