RAIL(ING)WAYS- A WAY OF LIFE

Nothing can rival the experiences of rail travel. Few days ago the opportunity of rail travel and its associated experiences brought to memory the most popular poem in poetry recitation contests of Stevenson which is reproduced with due apologies:

From A Railway Carriage

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

And charging along like troops in a battle

All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And here is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart runaway in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill, and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone forever!

This was a poem that used to be diligently recited during our train travels in summer holidays of our school days with much abandon (probably much to the amusement and discomfort of the fellow travellers).

As against the above, we had some hilarious experiences. The announcement at the Railway Station being relayed in trilingual format with special emphasis on the "superfast express" express from the capital was running late by two hours made people chuckle despite the inconvenience. There was another announcement that took the cake. Passengers were awaiting the rake to be placed at the platform. A lady chirped that the said train would be arriving on the platform shortly in trilingual format well past an hour of the scheduled departure. The station being the originating station deserves a mention. But the icing on the cake was after the passage of another quarter hour, the rake remained to arrive while the announcement stated that the train was on the platform. Even as it ended, a young man on the platform made an announcement that the phantom train had departed in trilingual format dissolving the "heated" passengers into a mirth of laughter. 

A few days back, it was the turn of passengers in a train were held to ransom by some who desired to be termed "backward". Evidently, their contention is we will not allow you to move forward unless we are termed backward. Apparently, if it were within the reach of the passengers, they would have unhesitatingly declared them "backward" to gain the way forward. 

In such a stimulating environment a friend of mine berated the lack of vision as the nation had failed to build a four lane rail highway from north to south, east to west, north east to south west and south east to north west besides coastal corridors. His vision set apart the middle two paths for short and medium distance trains while the extreme ends were reserved for the long distance trains which could steam ahead stating "My way is the highway".  Appreciating his railing (pun intended) vision, as well as the need to share the sense of humour with which we as a nation can accept the most travailing (or travelling) situations, the keyboard reaches its destination. Folks think as you laugh!