tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64296209603628959022024-03-06T04:23:27.336+05:30My Experiments With Indian Railways: Santulan MahantaSantulan Mahantahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403859297758996227noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429620960362895902.post-10370705858100416402014-10-02T20:33:00.001+05:302017-01-07T21:28:37.888+05:30Trekking the longest Railway Bridge in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was April 2012. I had already readied my itinerary for the northern Kerala
exploration. The term ‘exploration’ may sound grand, and you may take it for
exploring the wilderness. But in reality there was nothing as such and not
exactly related to regular tourist spots. In fact I had something different in
mind. For long I was speculating on the lengths of the upcoming railway
bridges. As such, our Bogibeel would be the longest followed by Deegha Ghat
bridge at Patna which is nearing its completion and already opened Vembanad
Bridge in Kerala. So I had set my target, it was Vembanad (also known as
Vellarpadam) that time. Already I did my research on that bridge and found the
length as 4.62 km.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So,
let me begin with a brief description of my journey. That time I was residing
in Lucknow. From the mid of March summer heat had started to roast us and in
April it generally crosses 40 in Celsius scale. I thought of breaking away with
the north Indian heat-wave which is accompanied by dry Loo wind. I made my
reservations for the southern sojourn with two intermediate breaks. First I
booked from Lucknow to Mumbai by Gorakhpur-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus superfast
which would take 22 hours for the first lag of my journey. Spending the whole
day at Mumbai and meeting some friends over there, I’d catch the Mandovi
Express to Madgaon in Goa. I wanted to enjoy the scenic Konkan Railway during
the daytime itself and thus booked in Mandovi which departs in the morning from
CSTM station. Spending another two days at Goa to explore the fascinating
Dudhsagar waterfall next lag of my journey was to be done by
Mangala-Lakshadweep Express till Ernakulam Junction. Trip reports of each lag
will be uploaded later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Arriving
at Ernakulam and getting refreshed, I rang up one of my old classmates. And I
was quite surprised to find that she was getting engaged on that very day! She
directed me to reach her home for the grand event and accordingly I caught a
newly introduced Mercedes Benz bus to her place. It was almost 40 km journey.
So the first day was spent that way. On the second day I woke up a bit lazily
and for a while pondered about executing my plan. I went outside the station
building and asked the autowalah there regarding how to reach my target point.
They told me that I should take a town bus till Maneka ferry port and from
there I can go. From the directions they gave me, it appeared that I should
take a ferry from Maneka to Vembanad. So without making any farther delay I
hasted towards the bus stop and took a bus to the ferry port. Arriving at the
ferry port I enquired about ferry to Vembanad port. There I was informed that
no ferry goes to Vembanad from there. I asked again for farther directions, but
the guy on the other side apparently had no idea. For a while I walked to and
fro the ferry port and then again returned to the bus stop. There was a market
area nearby. What should I do now? And more importantly is it going to be a
futile visit to Ernakulam? I went to a paan seller and asked for a cold drink to
which he responded with a locally produced soft drink. Then only I recalled
that Pepsi and Coke products were banned in Kerala. Grabbing a smoke from him I
hesitantly stated my problem, expecting least for any satisfactory answer of
course. But I had already determined that since I have reached so far from my
place and so near to my destination, I’d visit it at any cost. In broken Hindi
he pointed me to a bus. I aksed him once gain to confirm, “Vembanad?” “Haan,
cheri cheri”. Still I was not convinced and with a frown I went to the
conductor and asked, “Vembanad?” “po”. I could guess that to be a gesture to
board since he didn’t say anything sounding similar to “illa” (no). I boarded
the crowded bus and was charged rupees 2 till Vembanad. What I had guessed was
that the distance was almost 3 kilometres. I asked the gentleman standing next
to me to tell me where to get down. He asked where I am heading to in Vembanad
because there’s nothing except the port. I stated my intention of visiting the
railway bridge. After a few minutes we had arrived at a road bridge over the
backwaters. He told me that I should get down at the other end of the road
bridge I should get down and so did I. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7c5LUm0QXdykNw_nXgo5VWPHpod3VqkjiHvKCqb1m1i9_XawzCyh2_7SrCiDochhRfir7DMt234_ltY1D87XhCzQg1_xwFGdR5pktyOEeDtqFEhhchLdvR-V2lE3l3VGr9OPvkaaxQg/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7c5LUm0QXdykNw_nXgo5VWPHpod3VqkjiHvKCqb1m1i9_XawzCyh2_7SrCiDochhRfir7DMt234_ltY1D87XhCzQg1_xwFGdR5pktyOEeDtqFEhhchLdvR-V2lE3l3VGr9OPvkaaxQg/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I deboarded from bus at this point. Just in
front of Vellarpadam dock. The railway crossing is visible ahead</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Getting
down from the bus I looked around. Yes, there was absolutely nothing like human
settlements. Only the high walled port was at one side of the road and on the
other side road was being widened to four lanes which gradually slope down to
some mangrove bushes submerged in backwaters. At the point where the existing road
bridge ends, there one could see a railway track crossing the road and entering
the port. “This ought to be my track for today,” I told myself. I walked down
till the railway crossing. I stood facing towards the road bridge, the port was
on my right into which the railway track goes and to my left there was the starting
pint of my exploration. Both rail and road bridges were almost perpendicular to
each other. Another rod bridge was also coming up as part of the four lane
project which also avoids the railway crossing by going above it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qsddM1-wBHXLnsg1i9M4JOz1h_N0VzBMF1fXDY7BCiuDXn5Cf5ihznlFmOzh_LOTYGrrSsZNtJbOSebQ5j-ba6zfH6rwGXdl5TB7TdQI05Ro4Z37XwRO58w-R0NhWD6BPM_KjuYMolM/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qsddM1-wBHXLnsg1i9M4JOz1h_N0VzBMF1fXDY7BCiuDXn5Cf5ihznlFmOzh_LOTYGrrSsZNtJbOSebQ5j-ba6zfH6rwGXdl5TB7TdQI05Ro4Z37XwRO58w-R0NhWD6BPM_KjuYMolM/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-f.ak/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10612615_10203960780636528_1951554597650639490_n.jpg?oh=a567d91692324dd04c222d4c8c4f7410&oe=54B8646A&__gda__=1422278023_20f502a12fe7bad890a64d861f9dbf59" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A closer look of the two road bridges from the railway
crossing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcZjYN7GY4fXvYfajYqAaB83lo2pmY1AT5RXt4TVJO0ST1mu2xLLCvXwatl8WhOyKMJ5yYXVzrOsd5nafXz_YP0x4lbBkEdfsyVyfkNa9Me9_OLBgK6fosWO_TVcy3FNAr66t_1WGyZE/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcZjYN7GY4fXvYfajYqAaB83lo2pmY1AT5RXt4TVJO0ST1mu2xLLCvXwatl8WhOyKMJ5yYXVzrOsd5nafXz_YP0x4lbBkEdfsyVyfkNa9Me9_OLBgK6fosWO_TVcy3FNAr66t_1WGyZE/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">The board says it all. My quest actually starts here</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4WFsRgHLE8w2IppceSuwr-LLjqyD0-HLVw-FtgI2MnH3EG3QA2BvpHQgF5qjydrlzy_ngFaPhZN6r80VfgQIMtEOPvHZ_slmadTzVB_ZSX3JKiRFTkm2AlHCm1fEuhOR1Rll0Vo7_y8/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4WFsRgHLE8w2IppceSuwr-LLjqyD0-HLVw-FtgI2MnH3EG3QA2BvpHQgF5qjydrlzy_ngFaPhZN6r80VfgQIMtEOPvHZ_slmadTzVB_ZSX3JKiRFTkm2AlHCm1fEuhOR1Rll0Vo7_y8/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">The bridge was only one year old that time. Starting the construction in June 2007 the whole work was finished in March 2010; a feat achieved in less than three years. Yet to complete the tests and finally opening it had to wait till February next year. The bridge passes through three small islands also. Vembanad in fact is the name of the large lake over which the bridge had been constructed. It was an RCC bridge with a fine sidewalk at one side which puts the width at 5 metres, but on the other provisions for doubling the track is kept. There are 132 spans in all out of which 33 spans are 20 metre long and rest of the 99 are of 40 metres. Average height above water level is almost 7 metres. Pillars of the sidewalk were painted in sky-blue and the railings in white. Aha! What a view that was! Till then all the bridges I had seen in Indian Railway network were either painted in silver or in rusty red. But this one was a real bliss to the eyes.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsxo8VJO5HGngqKQdjuQb4JJ97aerQuWqDmRWCZL5YNLBNCB8wUsj4E0DV9FYf4XmJ-jE0haq8PN3CQA_Bkt8vWRyZkz2oaTuWM6z7o3e7Oa4KTTs6yTC6j0IOTg13AbC3RLFfeh1ZCY/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsxo8VJO5HGngqKQdjuQb4JJ97aerQuWqDmRWCZL5YNLBNCB8wUsj4E0DV9FYf4XmJ-jE0haq8PN3CQA_Bkt8vWRyZkz2oaTuWM6z7o3e7Oa4KTTs6yTC6j0IOTg13AbC3RLFfeh1ZCY/s640/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">One more glance at the point from where I started</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Enthusiasm was quite high in the beginning of the day, but later developments completely made me to forget about water. So armed only with my camera the tracking of the rails started from the end of the bridge. Usually that much of distance is comfortably traversable while trekking the hilly terrain. So even without water that distance is manageable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">As I looked ahead I saw the bridge taking a right angle turn and I could see the apparent end point. But I was wrong. That was the first island beneath the structure. I stopped there for a moment and was in two minds whether to take a photograph or not. I knew that the view I was enjoying at that moment would never enter through camera lens (that’s one of the reasons why a photographer never gets satisfaction from his work). I dialed my phone to home. At the other end my mother picked up and asked where I was at that moment. I told her that walking down the longest bridge in India. She asked again, rail or road? “Obviously it got to be rail”, I replied. She enquired about the length and surroundings and structure etc, I knew worried with the normal perception of a girderlesss railway bridge. Then she passed the phone to my father. Luckily that was a Bohag Bihu vacation in Assam, so both were at home. He asked me gain where I was. Again I replied the same. Then he asked from which end I have started. I said from the tail end. “I thought you’d. That’s easily reachable from Ernakulam. Do you have water etc with you or not? Because from the beginning point of the bridge, which is your apparent end point, Idapally station is quite some distance. You got to reach there to get any conveyance or refreshment or anything. So be careful. Good that you’ve visited that. I cannot think of it now.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1VtWoUL1Tt98-Z9bjUVSguH4UrcRbnfqmcBEr7ft5EzYVyevv1V3ziin5R6jBk1eBN2gqXmhpEV8p-K-4Ue5tKC9qbB9y6Z0eQuvBf22dbspf8Sxod144i3Ie4aVat0JPUXFxBDMRdk/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1VtWoUL1Tt98-Z9bjUVSguH4UrcRbnfqmcBEr7ft5EzYVyevv1V3ziin5R6jBk1eBN2gqXmhpEV8p-K-4Ue5tKC9qbB9y6Z0eQuvBf22dbspf8Sxod144i3Ie4aVat0JPUXFxBDMRdk/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The first island over which the bridge passes appears on the right</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">After a brief conversation with father I hang up the phone. I started walking again. As I was walking through the surrounding blues, one thought was disturbing me. The spirit of visiting the least visited and unexpected places I inherited from my father and grandfather. Towards the end of his life my grandfather would try to share as much his experiences with me whenever I used to visit him. He studied Hindi in Agra and was quite fond of travelling by trains. During my PhD also, he suggested me many libraries to be visited in Agra, Varanasi and Lucknow itself. I could only try to fathom that longing in his old but spirited eyes, but perhaps could never dip into the bottom. That day father’s voice also echoed the same tune. He knew what kind of bridge it was, terminal points of the bridge and exact stretch of distance it serves; it’s not possible that he’d not want to walk down through the ends. Just for his love of railways in his youth he’d traversed Barpeta to Nalbari stretch of railway tracks and several others outside the state on foot. So this stretch was nothing for such an ardent enthusiast. Yes my old man is a born geographer and he is quite proud of his subject knowledge, of course legitimately. He really knows his Geography!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Anyway soon my stream of consciousness was interrupted by an enviable view. To the left of my movement I saw a few houses. I guess right at that moment no one could appreciate the comfort of such a house other than me who was walking with a scorching sun above. I knew those houses could never be mine as each costs more than 10 crores each. Yes, Kerala has become quite costly in real estate business. Well, it has got every reason to be. Flourishing tourism, quite a huge population abroad, and overall costly life style have led to such costly business.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8kBpr1TS9RQlQUL-bN8xRPRRM0Tn5QjKKC3U98ej9A7BfX1tbwcMyGP8AcfoRD56_cOVb_QGIiWIyks8rzbU3agt2xHIcxNOZ5_xLDE2td9c4rkuFYn9ThnpJ-YsIzwsvuMWzxtoXKY/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8kBpr1TS9RQlQUL-bN8xRPRRM0Tn5QjKKC3U98ej9A7BfX1tbwcMyGP8AcfoRD56_cOVb_QGIiWIyks8rzbU3agt2xHIcxNOZ5_xLDE2td9c4rkuFYn9ThnpJ-YsIzwsvuMWzxtoXKY/s640/7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Felt jealous of the dwellers of those houses</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">When my eyes were busy appreciating the surroundings and my legs were performing their basic duty, my brain started thinking of a job, quite a queer and unnoticed kind of job. That is the job of a railway Gangman. A railway Gangman has to walk 4 miles up and down a railway stretch checking each and every bolt and clamps of the rails. He is the real unsung hero of the railway system. If the Gangman says to stop, you have to, no matter even if you are travelling by the Rajdhani Express or the President is travelling by the grand Presidential Saloon. They are the safety keeper of the railways. And yet as we travel by a train and see them working on the tracks waiting for our trains to pass by and then continue their work again, do we ever give a single thought on their toil? Or as we sit by the window, and then enjoy our face hit by the fast blowing cool wind and then we eat (rather gulp) our food and throw away the plastic dish outside through window, do we ever give a second thought that our eaten food remains may hit the face of a working gangman who was busy inspecting whether each and every wheel of our train was working properly or not? (<i>I’ve come a long way away from the topic, but couldn’t help sharing the line of thought on those unsung knights of the railways. My request to the readers is that, now onwards please use the wash basin instead of washing your hands out of the window, carry a bag to put your trash and dump it in garbage bin at a station instead of throwing them away through window which would save environment as well as save the little pride those hard working souls have.</i>)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeFcGTVjei0w9a1w1N33cCwiBdrCSP3BUQQCzp9zpfF5EEKfP_Dhfj_3JikQer9_MWOF3N_KN1u_Nyx6TpxoF9blgsMObvbHg2kHgFmuWssFWfri5eHe03W4BwYyd-fgMcgvOeDs2swtQ/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeFcGTVjei0w9a1w1N33cCwiBdrCSP3BUQQCzp9zpfF5EEKfP_Dhfj_3JikQer9_MWOF3N_KN1u_Nyx6TpxoF9blgsMObvbHg2kHgFmuWssFWfri5eHe03W4BwYyd-fgMcgvOeDs2swtQ/s640/8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="_x0000_i1050" style="height: 351pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 468pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="10590617_10203960780876534_2817785925322992767_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">If I were a gangman working on that bridge! But
that was just the beginning thought</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
bridge had some ladders to climb down to the base of the girders for the
convenience of the maintenance of the bottom structure. In the absence of the
human settlement those pillars were inhabited by some honey bees! Their home
was yet to be built, but seemed like they were gathering there to initiate the
laying of foundation stone (or wax perhaps?). It amused me; far from
vegetations they were making a nest there? Even to bring pollens and honey
they’d need to fly a huge distance over the back waters. Yeah, they are real
hard workers. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZb4moRUEXGGBxBL0n8uLS6wAimMX6qaouD17nm4_Dn0ss41ZV_52tX6fgXEkQd4tD836F9UzbfWdVg-918slP5ENW2pWly1ibJA30w7bhnaXfS8p2L8m_hh4zcMaLZTaliVwqDETWzhc/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZb4moRUEXGGBxBL0n8uLS6wAimMX6qaouD17nm4_Dn0ss41ZV_52tX6fgXEkQd4tD836F9UzbfWdVg-918slP5ENW2pWly1ibJA30w7bhnaXfS8p2L8m_hh4zcMaLZTaliVwqDETWzhc/s640/9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh! Some more dwellers on the bridge!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gradually
I sensed a bit of uneasiness. Everything was perfect till then. I could see
more than what I had expected. I had found no pictures of the bridge on
internet, so had no idea of it how would it look like. And when I saw it for
the first time, it was more beautiful than what I had expected. And yet, I was
feeling a bit uneasy. With a sweat drop toppled over eyebrow reminded me of the
humid heat. Yes, it was different from the climate I was accustomed to. Summer
in Lucknow was dry, and here it’s highly humid. We never used to sweat in North
Indian summer, but in a humid place like this sweating is obvious. But in both
the cases loss of body fluid does occur. And my present feeling was caused by
that. Yet, it was bearable. If you stand by the seashore you’d feel the torrent
of wind shaking you. You don’t feel like how hot the weather actually is. Here
I also thought of resting upon that comforting breeze. Yes, it was comforting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxR38pJu5Z4loxdlaq4vgVQEZUuRNbitMmaEWuTQCsnea4fPeir3Jg2oyzR8_bgZkR4cspjjJ532N3xWxZCHiCKX4dWf-mOJGN94Yfv7uLMzhAM_64ov281uPy0ja3SBzX2iUSq0Y664/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxR38pJu5Z4loxdlaq4vgVQEZUuRNbitMmaEWuTQCsnea4fPeir3Jg2oyzR8_bgZkR4cspjjJ532N3xWxZCHiCKX4dWf-mOJGN94Yfv7uLMzhAM_64ov281uPy0ja3SBzX2iUSq0Y664/s640/10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_i1044" style="height: 349.5pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 465.75pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="10544775_10203960795396897_6140946855607691080_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image009.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was
all blue…. Yes my favourite colour</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9197a3;">!</span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9197a3;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_5" o:spid="_x0000_i1043" style="height: 344.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 459pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="10382874_10203960795796907_7715992708340781236_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image010.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qc6xKzbAfczEs1QMrwNYHhtaMn9q4DV7XtvmJ4jLPyamdShl-mfFpq1z9mRz7Ll3Ru-so-CkfCOwWWKeqcyl6WxB0W3D6xK7ASL7qNULEOqWwgiY79RNpRJ-hUgzN-WYN7ofh9s0upg/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qc6xKzbAfczEs1QMrwNYHhtaMn9q4DV7XtvmJ4jLPyamdShl-mfFpq1z9mRz7Ll3Ru-so-CkfCOwWWKeqcyl6WxB0W3D6xK7ASL7qNULEOqWwgiY79RNpRJ-hUgzN-WYN7ofh9s0upg/s640/11.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHz1vsLMnGOP7q5BzQtUGjRRvMxNVapTVIPClJzlfnRux5YQ6b_pbmr2wMmKO1mtF368OuvwiUKS6wcW3EcMrVP6td7BydzjLLnI4M-h1hA226OkuIzxE_qQ_fBCcRzn18j15I5hyE2X0/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHz1vsLMnGOP7q5BzQtUGjRRvMxNVapTVIPClJzlfnRux5YQ6b_pbmr2wMmKO1mtF368OuvwiUKS6wcW3EcMrVP6td7BydzjLLnI4M-h1hA226OkuIzxE_qQ_fBCcRzn18j15I5hyE2X0/s640/12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">and
bluer…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
the bridge took a right angle turn, I looked back to gauge how far had I come.
It would be a long stretch over the vast expanding blue. Only patches of green
isles and islands look like embroidery in that large blue scarf. I wonder how
it’d look like in an avian view! By then I had traversed only one fourth of the
total length. Another seventy five percent was yet in line. And who knows what
sceneries are waiting to surprise me? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As
I was walking and appreciating the blues, my thought was again struck by the
punch-line of Kerala Tourism “God’s own Country”. Well, frankly speaking I
don’t subscribe to any religion or religious belief. But I wondered why that
punch-line became such a success. I found that the sense of exoticism is
highlighted very tactfully by KTDC. And once you become successful in branding
and projecting something as exotic, more than half your business is done.
Kerala may have (and they indeed have)
different sub categories of tourism, but the umbrella term is so catching that
it’d impart that sense of exoticism into the listener. Such a strategy still
keeps alive the tourism in J&K also; </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jannat-e-jahan</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (Paradise of the
earth) attracts people from far ends of the world.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_6" o:spid="_x0000_i1042" style="height: 351pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 468pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="10592776_10203960799356996_9216466259994032699_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image011.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3tBbC3SWXlb-3-UFJO_62XCxTrxILYSRMp0tZlNGVUmgJg_gY_Sd6AvMQQqie6RJW6b23uTTM_0tXJPu_AnUQhuQctDQ5w4vJEFXWMmu81-44iY4ghxrLpJ_XDAT_OcGlPXP9PTe52g/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3tBbC3SWXlb-3-UFJO_62XCxTrxILYSRMp0tZlNGVUmgJg_gY_Sd6AvMQQqie6RJW6b23uTTM_0tXJPu_AnUQhuQctDQ5w4vJEFXWMmu81-44iY4ghxrLpJ_XDAT_OcGlPXP9PTe52g/s640/13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-d.ak/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10592776_10203960799356996_9216466259994032699_n.jpg?oh=69ac781f43bdb1699f887457b0dca6d9&oe=54CA29DB&__gda__=1421181133_b9f9c931262d332068a79242fd780649" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When the bridge took almost a right angle turn,
I looked back to gauge how far had I come<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAHjUlhX9pugnSeR4J3pS0lisnmyrNsEQhEsp1prA-QCNIXIwVptog6IvA95m6yCE32oBE-SfGDmo1f6nwH9Z6-4E7WvICkem8nkgZj4X2r6vGXYgxuiqdSREVDw_txuSE_KMlxhKbbs/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAHjUlhX9pugnSeR4J3pS0lisnmyrNsEQhEsp1prA-QCNIXIwVptog6IvA95m6yCE32oBE-SfGDmo1f6nwH9Z6-4E7WvICkem8nkgZj4X2r6vGXYgxuiqdSREVDw_txuSE_KMlxhKbbs/s640/14.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10641088_10203960800077014_1340190640722788127_n.jpg?oh=e9ea384b49f218ddeec92fa730cfa99b&oe=54D13CCE" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Concrete mushrooms
growing up</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here
I come to the first island crossover. Distant skyscrapers looked like small
mushrooms. Since I was alone, I found no one to pose for me holding the
buildings between his/her fingers! I could hardly count the floors even after
zooming my lens into fullest at 144mm. Thickly growing coconut trees appeared
just like a dark green ribbon at the edge of the water. It reminded me of
Assamese poet Nawakanta Baruah’s <i>He Aranya, he Mahanagar</i> (Oh Forest, Oh
City). Our population and our sense of appreciation of beauty and wilderness
are inversely proportionate. The former is growing fast. And as I was looking
at the huge concrete structure I found no architectural beauty in it. Modern
architecture sells each and every inch of a building, but hundred years ago architects
would have spent more time in aesthetic design of a huge building rather than
putting a clerk’s table at the top floor corner. Thus we had more archs and
curves and decorations in 19<sup>th</sup> Century architecture (watch archaic
buildings in Kolkata next time), and now we had more rectangular cubicle based
building structures. Earlier people amassed wealth and ordered something to be
built, now builders build it and sell later cutting his profit. So investing
the money in architecture has also changed, and so is the purpose and aesthetic
structure. We have become so used to in living in apartments that we decorate
it from inside in best possible way, but from outside we may fail to notice how
ugly it looks like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKq6vJzxz-UgrUr6addI1EpyNxKLvyxE9eJFA-wFekQuJ2Gg8kFVBqYFTJr7xjn7baLo7b9GVRHnCYLHpCul_CGgvW0QCba-uTrTO-p991lCXa7PK0S772QHj3XqX15BdWvVEcLPnwrE/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKq6vJzxz-UgrUr6addI1EpyNxKLvyxE9eJFA-wFekQuJ2Gg8kFVBqYFTJr7xjn7baLo7b9GVRHnCYLHpCul_CGgvW0QCba-uTrTO-p991lCXa7PK0S772QHj3XqX15BdWvVEcLPnwrE/s640/15.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-g.ak/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10590603_10203960801837058_4185314536783927276_n.jpg?oh=039d0f3882c15d93fa156d6c5140c1d6&oe=548313DE&__gda__=1417869512_038b634e7ef19696bb0cc4dc6ed854ba" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By then I realised, I forgot something. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qW8ZjNSQkdTQoM4zmpaU5IFPXu7FUtrnTBh0izA8_Q2scZplAYNaf1r_9E_oJnF7KG8gBF8f0KO_EOX0cia2WBebNmduX7YZ8a3oEwayVz04SFER9Nprk2nbprnx7GbeUej4iFtX8SM/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qW8ZjNSQkdTQoM4zmpaU5IFPXu7FUtrnTBh0izA8_Q2scZplAYNaf1r_9E_oJnF7KG8gBF8f0KO_EOX0cia2WBebNmduX7YZ8a3oEwayVz04SFER9Nprk2nbprnx7GbeUej4iFtX8SM/s640/16.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-c.ak/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10469038_10203960803477099_6525291727496201378_n.jpg?oh=fee27a3304ff127108dcd73da5bd6800&oe=54B7F4AE&__gda__=1422192331_e7466f48fa322f5d515e7880a2f0bb2f" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, I should have carried at least a bottle of
water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LA9eA1HaKVulEyFD5Ts931KNL7vytBqDlNvLk3CIbKX1ig6eZq1oL6LTl9UP2XxQrjSRlGrfk12JbXmMlyEzK1HdJbP9Z-lEUIu5pHsKXTvrd-NyJCYegPE1Z3PszHl-dDEXplW1sME/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LA9eA1HaKVulEyFD5Ts931KNL7vytBqDlNvLk3CIbKX1ig6eZq1oL6LTl9UP2XxQrjSRlGrfk12JbXmMlyEzK1HdJbP9Z-lEUIu5pHsKXTvrd-NyJCYegPE1Z3PszHl-dDEXplW1sME/s640/17.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-a.ak/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10612704_10203960803077089_1505577939562209254_n.jpg?oh=e55f7107c240382af8e50506f736712c&oe=54B246A5&__gda__=1422465096_6b591b626fce160c52ff435dfadfa059" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That's the dock to where the rails lead</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
I looked back towards the dock, which was almost two kilometers away, I saw those
huge cranes lifting gigantic loads. Perhaps more concrete high rises would come
up. Even from that distance their existence could impart a sense of awe in me.
Or perhaps my distaste for unhealthy grow of modernity has made me blind to
appreciate them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
I looked down below to the edge of the water of that island, I saw some herons
searching for food leaving behind the imprint of their soft claws in mud. They
were a bit different from our pond herons and had black beaks unlike the orange
ones of ours. Water provides so many life opportunities! Some live aquatic life
and some live on aquatic lives! Their cool attitude intensified the feel of
heat. Yes our feelings are also highly relative immeasurable in any scale. How
did the old steam engine drivers bear the oven they drove? Against all odds and
racial cries, Anglo Indian drivers used to dominate trains only because of two
reasons: they could bear the heat like Indians and they had the spirit of
disciplined working like the Englishmen. Thus Anglo Indian drivers swinging
from their locomotive footplates received most of the firebox heat of the steam
era in Indian Railways. And yet they were the most punctual defying every odds.
(A tribute on them will follow in a later article.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7RyvSC5hCP1wRsfQkvf-7tsiNcWkkc2AhqaYZZ7zempinLaUDbtxXXBYvINuDaFdRehjWuSZ6jFSsz-6iXv_-nEf1qB3DWDpihyjTsbWffKajN3088aKfuFQnAi6nZLjFHoxX6m4tfwQ/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7RyvSC5hCP1wRsfQkvf-7tsiNcWkkc2AhqaYZZ7zempinLaUDbtxXXBYvINuDaFdRehjWuSZ6jFSsz-6iXv_-nEf1qB3DWDpihyjTsbWffKajN3088aKfuFQnAi6nZLjFHoxX6m4tfwQ/s640/18.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-e.ak/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10610796_10203960805477149_7726589919510995772_n.jpg?oh=f58eecc9c0a0792c2ab54b422a4fe666&oe=54C25E03&__gda__=1422953454_11860c779ee00d6153995a648eae6849" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Buddy, I am a bit thirsty and you are enjoying
down there? Can you lend me your wings for once?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_13" o:spid="_x0000_i1036" style="height: 246.75pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 329.25pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="10360212_10203960807197192_6924634321950766539_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image017.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJRO6mXB_KE6Nx07aRARHnIcRqpBw_tmqFqBhrCHnGKnZ76geDx5yJqkmHA091u7fLtL6RYJWFOcZGWbvrFZsaMa5w8e4ANHb34n_H8BA5Tcw9-QVgo_DhI-feGUPfnMKhiiXFYKuJFo/s1600/19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJRO6mXB_KE6Nx07aRARHnIcRqpBw_tmqFqBhrCHnGKnZ76geDx5yJqkmHA091u7fLtL6RYJWFOcZGWbvrFZsaMa5w8e4ANHb34n_H8BA5Tcw9-QVgo_DhI-feGUPfnMKhiiXFYKuJFo/s640/19.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-f.ak/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10360212_10203960807197192_6924634321950766539_n.jpg?oh=62bc767c54bdf0b96086884a5cd71017&oe=54CC85B5&__gda__=1421274058_70dc380c54b794023654f9795e8c68b6" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Arriving over
a road in the first island</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #9197a3; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIiikO_-sXWxcwLcROX9DRX9Sk6grHm3D0DqXGNphZ0mq7WEAtXF6KMAYrkD5V_tceRYEExgTh3BmWxG644O0WRI8TP6qo0ATmJW9gn_P5i_JnRCoX0ohGAE7xLCmiuyPAR8lLVbqPys/s1600/20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIiikO_-sXWxcwLcROX9DRX9Sk6grHm3D0DqXGNphZ0mq7WEAtXF6KMAYrkD5V_tceRYEExgTh3BmWxG644O0WRI8TP6qo0ATmJW9gn_P5i_JnRCoX0ohGAE7xLCmiuyPAR8lLVbqPys/s640/20.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-d.ak/hphotos-ak-frc1/v/t1.0-9/1928392_10203960809277244_5232972194517826307_n.jpg?oh=619fdea2e671d7e6bcf56aeeef517545&oe=54B52515&__gda__=1421107169_e97b274975f2843d55b91098161b8e99" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lonely, yet distinct!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
crossed over the road below and soon entered the territory of thickly growing
coconut jungle. I guess only the queer most individual would show his/her
distaste for tender coconut water. For me it’s always been prioritized over
cold drinks. It was season for those tender coconuts, tempted the onlookers
hanging from the trees. And each of them were in such a perfect shape, size and
colour! I wonder if any Urdu poet had seen them what would have been his <i>labzein</i>.
Unfortunately Urdu doesn’t have synonym for it due to cultural dissociation of
coconut in Islamic countries. Even we don’t have any piece of good poetry in
Assamese that emphasizes on any aspect of the coconut! Seems it’s not a thing
of beauty to become a joy forever, rather a thing of religious importance to
constitute the paraphernalia of our rites. Not only monkeys, even we don’t
value the coconut!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSw4mLzyWpXNHHhYvp8jyaJaYgRZmcl80tFY1cUZM8RlDu3DUZ5ShKSGbW2wEEM8kx5xYE68rbZE81WpCteRvcfXy6Rpf_oxpHS8jR6ZCRpJengaTHU-yITbcthhcSvj0JW8zxoNhO2Y/s1600/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSw4mLzyWpXNHHhYvp8jyaJaYgRZmcl80tFY1cUZM8RlDu3DUZ5ShKSGbW2wEEM8kx5xYE68rbZE81WpCteRvcfXy6Rpf_oxpHS8jR6ZCRpJengaTHU-yITbcthhcSvj0JW8zxoNhO2Y/s640/21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-g.ak/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10387460_10203960811477299_117127763874522192_n.jpg?oh=6a62ca175f10539c28b5b26abefeea73&oe=54C03B69&__gda__=1420975326_c15f8a68ed69cede0102e9881298f8ef" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Huh! Could I reach them? I tried, but I
couldn't<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With earlier impeding thirst I felt more thirsty
looking at those coconuts. Well, they were beyond my hands’ reach. By then one
third of the length I had traversed. A feel of regret started hitting me
inside. How on earth did I forget that basic companion, a bottle of water? That
time I felt like understanding Coleridge’s <i>Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner</i>
properly, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“</span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Water, water, everywhere, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And all the boards did shrink; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Water, water, everywhere, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Nor any drop to drink.”</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPO2LgAcjsw5IS3DcdMJaAhTB855oyxwS2Idz8xLK2UmjRqOyIPZlhoQlKQtBDIQrmuw7h_Xlu7WWYKbJVH6vL5YbvqSE9dglmOjR7lsqSn-oN1Wnuz89KV5-K9vEF0lCtjW_HlSPmYX4/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPO2LgAcjsw5IS3DcdMJaAhTB855oyxwS2Idz8xLK2UmjRqOyIPZlhoQlKQtBDIQrmuw7h_Xlu7WWYKbJVH6vL5YbvqSE9dglmOjR7lsqSn-oN1Wnuz89KV5-K9vEF0lCtjW_HlSPmYX4/s640/22.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I looked back to see what I had crossed by
now...water...tender coconut...but not at my disposal</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9Gjnq4urYwjUqZqIPjP8SziFgEv7Aeo0SOzxHlT3Dt5u77m-c4EM06CW4k-Vbs62qsZHteaOkZNOag75zCtkoCPeQnxAKKQW8sDh4QQxAZLWoZiw8BXTMDJM9X8F60oRoemrk9B3UXs/s1600/23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9Gjnq4urYwjUqZqIPjP8SziFgEv7Aeo0SOzxHlT3Dt5u77m-c4EM06CW4k-Vbs62qsZHteaOkZNOag75zCtkoCPeQnxAKKQW8sDh4QQxAZLWoZiw8BXTMDJM9X8F60oRoemrk9B3UXs/s640/23.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxYL-eYHw3Q6Hfh3twYRsDHRU8QBDPUVTIzBiklgH8Cnps27F1GPJH5YyvkGPyGq7384H8IpMoCfp_EWEQOyKspk6xjEyWBU2JtscyNhSo3QbTFA3KSmSTyHXhYQBprje-Sq3O3W4Ass/s1600/25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxYL-eYHw3Q6Hfh3twYRsDHRU8QBDPUVTIzBiklgH8Cnps27F1GPJH5YyvkGPyGq7384H8IpMoCfp_EWEQOyKspk6xjEyWBU2JtscyNhSo3QbTFA3KSmSTyHXhYQBprje-Sq3O3W4Ass/s640/25.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-e.ak/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10599310_10203960815837408_386825492128074369_n.jpg?oh=2a0b45e3ebba827df06b53cbc2b4584b&oe=54C67DDC&__gda__=1421525611_09a6c0e54319affe0a3642f50e981b68" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I looked forward. Another 5 kilometres to walk
till I reach the next station<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_18" o:spid="_x0000_i1031" style="height: 296.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 394.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="10565169_10203960818917485_3857264337796484264_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image022.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cm5iAfMSlEjBiHXnLDpnoOjb3rfJ6iFXtCR5NPxfD5XdKO1mvWSieAsU55_cgeaDHc91ZwY_O-7ct0LtIi0ppjWZrUYQcpjsiQKb-0rYF-SY6vahpCodHySoJRUk6G9D3-Zn5W-2Fk0/s1600/24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cm5iAfMSlEjBiHXnLDpnoOjb3rfJ6iFXtCR5NPxfD5XdKO1mvWSieAsU55_cgeaDHc91ZwY_O-7ct0LtIi0ppjWZrUYQcpjsiQKb-0rYF-SY6vahpCodHySoJRUk6G9D3-Zn5W-2Fk0/s640/24.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-b.ak/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10565169_10203960818917485_3857264337796484264_n.jpg?oh=320f1d8a81ce74ac3e4aa53b2b3541af&oe=54CEAF00&__gda__=1422705023_afd734005e5cfcc784f73d516ebd6bf3" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; line-height: 18px; outline: none; text-align: left; width: auto;" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">My favourite colour, brought me distress for the first time</span></span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><span class="fbPhotoTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqF4MnY_tJv31NRbAR3eeVYolObBHnX5MtgGDOPFysrZeYli-KMM2_hOPK9qkrH6qfZDveQLOp__DovIgUq_gmH3YeLSojgZJYRGY_PvbOLO4vODtA6E0xMic7E5TM1oI0IARyYflGN0A/s1600/26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqF4MnY_tJv31NRbAR3eeVYolObBHnX5MtgGDOPFysrZeYli-KMM2_hOPK9qkrH6qfZDveQLOp__DovIgUq_gmH3YeLSojgZJYRGY_PvbOLO4vODtA6E0xMic7E5TM1oI0IARyYflGN0A/s640/26.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><span class="fbPhotoTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wish I had a boat to sail through those all day
long!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHpA7HF4hACf7NU-YluxH3naKCOH5urzco3rRxmqEXUfGuF3COATodk9X0nYe4ZuhGYKdBZScPfOCqSbpHBkMfv3sEpPIotjaZJSurIMLqSfGvAbFZHN1xfh42pFH5KJh4XTbuBFtQDw/s1600/27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHpA7HF4hACf7NU-YluxH3naKCOH5urzco3rRxmqEXUfGuF3COATodk9X0nYe4ZuhGYKdBZScPfOCqSbpHBkMfv3sEpPIotjaZJSurIMLqSfGvAbFZHN1xfh42pFH5KJh4XTbuBFtQDw/s640/27.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-d.ak/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10614205_10203960821277544_7249837257924514409_n.jpg?oh=b15d9cbfc88c16de1d4b44d756e62743&oe=54C4DA9F&__gda__=1421988298_eede4f1dabca5675d561c0643beead15" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another
4.4 kilometres to walk</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #9197a3; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #9197a3; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_20" o:spid="_x0000_i1029" style="height: 286.5pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 382.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata blacklevel="-3277f" gain="93623f" o:title="10616226_10203960824197617_7971310207949044517_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image024.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKZ-UZhYwcSVgaSg_4IKY5OuVzM4IKj8yzYGLdYUyc2M0r0CY8R7A-vSX8L071ia7mPiZBESdhZkAlavNto9Oo7Kq97ncYzBaU3aO5cezyZynxquaA1NS1VcoVJ00I9T7NCidZR_rgGs/s1600/28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKZ-UZhYwcSVgaSg_4IKY5OuVzM4IKj8yzYGLdYUyc2M0r0CY8R7A-vSX8L071ia7mPiZBESdhZkAlavNto9Oo7Kq97ncYzBaU3aO5cezyZynxquaA1NS1VcoVJ00I9T7NCidZR_rgGs/s640/28.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10616226_10203960824197617_7971310207949044517_n.jpg?oh=58f908de3bafe63ff89e38b9ebea0d95&oe=54B371D3" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I felt like riding one and then jump to the
water and swim!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyrT0UCA4JqmBRb8v08QnpUFP0Y9I-1BpbDk1HN6GcdY5DSlftOAhePTMK77iEpyPQnnfl4I0E1-KQPF-YB9TToUrVFv1s_DOqelv4X9FbQPwsF44ynOn7ZbP1rC6UB9LMSXZwfcL-b0/s1600/29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyrT0UCA4JqmBRb8v08QnpUFP0Y9I-1BpbDk1HN6GcdY5DSlftOAhePTMK77iEpyPQnnfl4I0E1-KQPF-YB9TToUrVFv1s_DOqelv4X9FbQPwsF44ynOn7ZbP1rC6UB9LMSXZwfcL-b0/s640/29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Busybodies</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_21" o:spid="_x0000_i1028" style="height: 287.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 383.25pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="10471086_10203960825677654_358397350172458974_n" src="file:///C:\Users\GITANJ~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image025.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfcUuEtxpX65-nuNhI1LJCvOf7VWAJ5vdzlED_M4J4sz923m_60BgtBGER6qYNR7H8dnqWaKKhSoPdJ_aSyE-QkkRuv2RPkzgqHb6DEVJE_xOKMCvCjvFuS0z0bkHysgAxAN2B1Vg_EU/s1600/30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfcUuEtxpX65-nuNhI1LJCvOf7VWAJ5vdzlED_M4J4sz923m_60BgtBGER6qYNR7H8dnqWaKKhSoPdJ_aSyE-QkkRuv2RPkzgqHb6DEVJE_xOKMCvCjvFuS0z0bkHysgAxAN2B1Vg_EU/s640/30.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-c.ak/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10471086_10203960825677654_358397350172458974_n.jpg?oh=47b6f6de852f0b47ac9db92c94a18506&oe=54865009&__gda__=1421458742_03c704927a71a3c837c5a3a81809dd67" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, here endeth the bridge!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally
I reached the end (actually starting point of the bridge). There from the
elevation I could see another two parallel tracks coming down from Ernakulam
Junction (ERS) via Ernakulam Town (ERN). But where is Idapally (IPL) station
now?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Mz4oUM7PoW5RoprjtxGE8fJdGJ0WGBE2OFQVdTtrH5V0e8v6E_6asO9lalFxmD8RvDpFFoXq1S1AVJLcMbBBh0EP2cUcFW0DyHKIKm4smx_QUoSuxYtkADFZB8W2cLubRKJtTohtD24/s1600/31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Mz4oUM7PoW5RoprjtxGE8fJdGJ0WGBE2OFQVdTtrH5V0e8v6E_6asO9lalFxmD8RvDpFFoXq1S1AVJLcMbBBh0EP2cUcFW0DyHKIKm4smx_QUoSuxYtkADFZB8W2cLubRKJtTohtD24/s640/31.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10584045_10203960828757731_7828384805539625801_n.jpg?oh=7e231e1bebeddb91240bfbf63f2b8b16&oe=5487816F" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But where is Idapally Station??? Oh! Another
2.3 km???<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQVEO1vDrNLf91OtdSYqCcHKDfFCW8wVAdErk2OYO78dIrU7FawGxUrdWcxqgCWDoR8s0aOdWP3cgTEMxtlZ0Mcj78HwKo0US7zB_UdbiMpK3L6ziarwsXdrytsPAqnL3Hxdis4uvirZM/s1600/32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQVEO1vDrNLf91OtdSYqCcHKDfFCW8wVAdErk2OYO78dIrU7FawGxUrdWcxqgCWDoR8s0aOdWP3cgTEMxtlZ0Mcj78HwKo0US7zB_UdbiMpK3L6ziarwsXdrytsPAqnL3Hxdis4uvirZM/s640/32.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #1d2129; text-align: left;">Lines from Ernakulam North arrives to my right</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
had to walk more towards north, another 2.5 km stretch. All the surrounding
greenery was hot now in the absence of the cooling effect of water. As I walked
down the gradient I heard the honk of an ALCo locomotive and hard chugging. A
train was climbing up the gradient from ERN side. Turbo chargers of the ALCo
locomotive emitted a nice jiggling sound matching that of the ghoongroos of a
classical dancer. Soon I could see the head of the train, and to my luck there
were two engines on doing that train! That was a real treat for me, twin
locomotives operations are rare these days. I waited to see which train was it,
my watch said it should be Netravati Express. And yes! It was Netravati indeed
as the train passed by silently and the driver put the notch in idle mode while
tumbling down towards IPL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7APtuYU1DaxG36I1sIoHn9Tf6qOBAlHMkdm2O7t3TzxyZBQU_KVIKb0dMoFOxUF66rNRlgR6Ar-3JYoF4weXsEbwH1nlVjDy4FfFhxg6or1UMc8f3o1aC1uwi1dRLknQOINrgRfcjk-U/s1600/33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7APtuYU1DaxG36I1sIoHn9Tf6qOBAlHMkdm2O7t3TzxyZBQU_KVIKb0dMoFOxUF66rNRlgR6Ar-3JYoF4weXsEbwH1nlVjDy4FfFhxg6or1UMc8f3o1aC1uwi1dRLknQOINrgRfcjk-U/s640/33.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="hascaption"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wow!
Someone with a load is climbing a gradient from Ernakulam North side!</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #9197a3; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #9197a3; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLaqLgDqRactrhd8Dr-njSE0yOXtL2MZGP41Auea3kE0NwYapviNmcOogVPGHyiEkdkNFF9Mc9VuonnbFhlyVCKopG3gDUkaXpiR6M8i6zh38x21jiHDR6Uyz5cAD5dJmmAMUQ916TxM/s1600/34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLaqLgDqRactrhd8Dr-njSE0yOXtL2MZGP41Auea3kE0NwYapviNmcOogVPGHyiEkdkNFF9Mc9VuonnbFhlyVCKopG3gDUkaXpiR6M8i6zh38x21jiHDR6Uyz5cAD5dJmmAMUQ916TxM/s640/34.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ahem! What can be a better delight at the end
but to find Netravati with double headed ALCo??? Wasn't I lucky?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Want
to what happened at the end? I was too tired to click any picture, so IPL
station will not appear in photographs. Well, I reached IPL station and looked
for any stall selling water etc. But to my dismay, there was not a single stall
at all. Next I enquired about any train towards ERS or ERN which stops at IPL
too. But there was none at that time. The booking clerk suggested me to go to
the bus stand at a distance and catch a bus from there to Ernakulam. I followed
his instructions and reached the bus stand. That was a make-shift bus stand
under a banyan tree. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then by the bus stand I found a small shop and that day I
appreciated water like never before. 2 litres of water and 1.2 litres of cold
drink pacified a little. Body demanded more water, but intestine couldn't
absorb that quick. Oh! How can I forget that expedition!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Santulan Mahantahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403859297758996227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429620960362895902.post-17845547968669622022014-06-17T12:26:00.000+05:302014-06-17T12:26:25.599+05:30Two Tones of Coal Consumed by Bovine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Indian Railways’ chief
source of revenue is iron ore followed by coal. Apart from meeting the domestic
needs, India exports the red earth from different ports. Several first world
countries depend on highly rich Indian iron ore. Even if you fail to notice the
heavy ore carrying box type wagon (BOXNHL wagons) freight trains in the east
coast, you can imagine the magnitude standing at busy Vishakhapattanam dock,
large vessels sailing off loaded with iron ore. And for coal, the trend is just
the opposite. India’s coal consumption is highest in two industries, first comes
the thermal power plants and followed by steel industries. Highly sulphated
Indian coal is unsuitable for power plant use, thus India has to import high
quality coal mainly from Australia. But that doesn’t lessen the burden on its
own coal mines. Eastern India still witnesses a busy coal movement over iron
rails. With all the iron and coal mines around, industrial freight movement in
eastern India is quite dense compared to several other parts in India. When
several parts of Indian Railways still cry for doubling the tracks, eastern
India feels as if quadruple tracks are not sufficient to connect craters with
chimneys.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here goes my experience
on</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘black
country of India’, which once drew attention of Prince Dwarkanath Tagore who
bought over the collieries and Carr and Tagore Co. led the field in 1835.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The story is from Raniganj,
a coal rich area in West Bengal has been centre of interest for many parties
(not political parties but equally corrupt nevertheless), big industries as
customers, groups of miners, local transporters, contractors at railway yards
to load freight trains and of course the railways. That’s a fine coordination
which we can imagine as a stream of divisive labour. One player’s withdrawal
would mean complete collapse of the business. Anyway, lots of people found
their bread and butter in this business and some other found ways to make a few
(?) extra bucks. Cast coal has to be processed before transporting. Technical
term is beneficiation, but in case of coal the broader term is coal preparation
and narrower term is coal cleaning. Through this process pure coal is separated
from pebbles. Percentage of pure coal present in a certain stock determines the
richness of the coal. But that processing takes place much after the casting,
with labourers draining all their sweat and contractor paying them off. And
after the whole week’s casting, it may turn up that the stock is worthless in
terms of percentage of pure coal. At that point separating coal from pebbles
would cost more than what the coal would earn. And if somehow you dodge the
checking process and transport the stock to the destinations, there is a
certain possibility of return of the stock by the customer. But contractors did
spend their money, and needed to refill their capital. So trick would be played
in cleaning process itself on the already cleaned coal stock. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pure coal soaks water
and becomes several times heavier. So mining contractors intentionally keep the
pure stock soaked in water. And when wet coal is loaded for transportation,
obviously it makes a huge difference between real weight and logged weight. But
once you pass through the weighing process, your responsibility is over; you
got paid in accordance to weight. Now dumpers exiting from mines would deposit
the stock at railway yard, mountains of such stock waiting to be transported
under rough sun. Our stock is being loaded to the BOXNHL wagons, paperwork has
been done, and stock moves towards the destination. And during this whole
process our stock suffers from dehydration! Finally when customer industry
receives the stock, they weigh, they find less than what it should be,
concludes that lapses in railway led to loss of volume while transportation. As
transporter Indian Railways has to compensate the loss. So railway has to carry
double burden. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But how long can one
milk cash in such ways? So soon an investigating committee came into existence
including members from Coal India Limited along with Railway Board members.
They scrutinized the whole process from coal seams till the power-plant
chimneys, and discovered that the loss actually occurs in between the coalfield
exit gate and the railway yard. So a second time visit to the railway yard was
planned. But in India the most classified news moves faster than any wheeled
vehicle. So the responsible contractors were made aware of the inspection by
some moles. Next day when the investigating team arrived at the railway yard,
they discovered one more coal consumer: our holy bovine eating coal happily
shaking their horns and waving their tails!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You may wonder how it
is possible. Contractors got one molasses supplier to mix his sugary substance
with piles of black diamond. Our human eyes and nose may not sense it, but
those animals around voluntarily offered for the scam job. And thus it was
reported bovine consumed two tones of coal just in front of the investigation
team!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Santulan Mahantahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403859297758996227noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429620960362895902.post-39116200490057866762012-06-04T14:44:00.002+05:302012-06-04T15:46:24.734+05:30Train to Pakistan sequel: Locomotives to Pakistan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Express Tribune published an article </span><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/52218/the-collapse-of-pakistan-railways/">The Collapse of Pakistan</a></span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/52218/the-collapse-of-pakistan-railways/" target="_blank"> <i>Railways</i></a> in its
September 20, 2010 issue. The article gives a substantial introduction to our
neighbour Railways from the beginning till now, and its past glory and
achievements as well (for instance its exports to Bangladesh and Srilanka in
past years along with meeting its local needs). The glorious days lasted till
the 90's in the last century. And then Musharraf government took over and
appointed General Javed Ashraf the railway
minster, General Saeed the chairman and General Hamid Butt the general manager
of manufacturing and services, all of whom had no prior experience in railways.
So Pakistan Railway's (PR) suffering was inevitable (somewhat the same is also
noticed in Indian Railway in recent years in terms of mismanagement, but being
a massive network and an efficient freight traffic have managed to maintain the
equilibrium at its own cost). This was the period when PR's balance sheet saw a
rapid decline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Popular
jokes of <i>Chinese maal </i>really proved right with the new arrival of all
the way inefficient locomotives from China which were far inferior than the
existing 30/40 years old locomotives in PR. These locomotives had a higher axle
load much above the bearing capacity of the mainline tracks in PR and far
beyond the branch lines. Additional impact for spare parts procurement valued
at $15 million annually made them the most expensive locomotives ever procured by
PR. There was a burden of 64 such <i>Chinese maal</i>. And now in recent years
(2009-2010) an additional order for 75 brand new locomotives has been bagged by
the same Chinese middleman Dong Feng Trading House (DFTH) and Mishan
Locomotives Works bagged an additional order for 75 brand new locomotives. And
still the damage caused to PR was felt not enough by the diplomats and Railway
officials. So 200 passenger carriages at an exorbitant cost are also being
procured, although the same could be manufactured by the factory in Islamabad
with imported raw material. Those in India who feel amazed at the achievement
of high speed trains in China must also scrutinise the 'high quality' railway
products in China and draw a parallel between recent RCF (Rail Coach Factory,
Kapoorthala) in India and the aluminum toothpaste tube. China can really
produce high quality junk and export to the neighbouring countries just like
their electronic gadgets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">PR
has almost 500 locomotives to its stable, but more than half of the diesel-electric
(or simply diesel) locomotives are now stabled due to lack of spare parts from
foreign agencies and electric locos is in need of infrastructure to operate.
Some sources claim that PR now has only about 70 locomotives in perfect
condition, whereas </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Indian Railways (IR) manufactures about 250
diesel locomotives a year and has 4,214 electric and 6,000 diesel engines in
its inventory. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pakistan, at this point, is facing an acute
shortage of locomotives that has forced its railways to suspend operations of
as many as 128 passenger trains in recent months. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Recent news in </span>
<a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120518/jsp/business/story_15501706.jsp#.T7uRMdym_KO" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;" target="_blank">The Telegraph</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">s Calcutta edition dated 18th May, 2012 says about a recent
development in Pakistan Railways involving IR as well. “A team of officials
from Pakistan had met the Indian counterparts and broad consensus emerged on
leasing the locomotives,” a senior railway ministry official said. IR sell
locomotives on purchase basis to other countries but this will be for the first
time that IR is considering giving it on hiring as PR prefers leasing to
buying. According to sources IR may provide 50 locomotives on lease at the rate
of Rs 1,500 per hour per engine of 3,000 HP. This is the first time that IR is
leasing out its locos to any country. But why PR went for leasing than buying
the locos? And why PR chose only IR locos for this deal? These might be the
causes that concerned:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">A depreciation fund, which was meant for scheduled
preventive repair and maintenance of locomotives, carriages and tracks, has
been disbanded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">2.
Pakistan Railways had compatible locomotives from GE, Hitachi and other
companies – all with different axle loads but compatible with the railway
tracks. Their main line tracks have the capability of handling a load of 22
tons per axle, while branch lines can sustain 16.5 tons per axle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
remember Chinese locos had a much higher axle load above these limits,
practically unsuitable for functioning in the network. A special dispensation
was issued by the Railways allowing their operation on sections where it could
prove dangerous and this is still in force. This has led to numerous accidents
and loss of precious lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">From
the specifications it is evident that IR will lease out WDM3A class of
locomotives with axle load of </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">18.8 tonnes and
total weight 112.8t. Although WDG3A class freighter locos also share the same
power-pack and extensively used in passenger services in India (sometimes
spotted even with prestigious trains like Rajdhani Express), yet the higher
axle load of 20.5t appears disadvantageous for PR. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="line-height: 16px;">(For Diesel Electric loco specifications </span><a href="http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-loco2d.html" style="line-height: 16px;" target="_blank">click here</a><span style="line-height: 16px;">)</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1kb6UJcihYwWrzykIpGLsDXxwYv4y7TMvGUG_Ntu_lHVT0qkB84PLcdZ-bxZjuxdKBxeWhCGaccVBfZVmQRzCHUO-dnSgcLciQt36cs01gUIxA0QABZ8BkN5VLpW8bZB5OlFlX6Wf6Y/s1600/DSCN2258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1kb6UJcihYwWrzykIpGLsDXxwYv4y7TMvGUG_Ntu_lHVT0qkB84PLcdZ-bxZjuxdKBxeWhCGaccVBfZVmQRzCHUO-dnSgcLciQt36cs01gUIxA0QABZ8BkN5VLpW8bZB5OlFlX6Wf6Y/s320/DSCN2258.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A DLMW rebuilt WDM3A locomotive (origin WDM2A) of New Guwahati Locoshed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfO3zsrXOtCTWfsmVr32cZWE2wuEfgJ2Fksc2u0bk5kQiOkzi1asdI3EpFxqUv33CTWxmS6DJEe1PFv2ElvkkE7ne4YBMWNEpz81Z62QwyIbArtHB24NMJ7yBejyhp9OZlIpbtfKY19hg/s1600/DSCN2342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfO3zsrXOtCTWfsmVr32cZWE2wuEfgJ2Fksc2u0bk5kQiOkzi1asdI3EpFxqUv33CTWxmS6DJEe1PFv2ElvkkE7ne4YBMWNEpz81Z62QwyIbArtHB24NMJ7yBejyhp9OZlIpbtfKY19hg/s320/DSCN2342.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A DLW built WDM3A of Gooty Locoshed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Now
this is really a neighbourly help rendered by India for a country that is
considered as a potential threat. But there are some other doubts which linger
to railfans' (that is the popular term used for railway fanatics in the
subcontinent, not to be confused with mechanical fan in the summer season) minds. It
is evident that IR is proceeding considering the axle load and condition of the
railway tracks as officially quoted. But decades of ill-maintenance including
the lack of schedule preventive repair of tracks may pose as a threat to the
underframe of the IR horses as well. With a failing system we cannot expect the
proper training of loco pilots in PR which may enable them to efficiently run
locos with modern technology. So at first operational speed will be quite low.
After all those if the Indian locos do not exhibit a high rate of fuel
efficiency, then there is a fear that Pakistan may stop the leasing payments.
One can perceive that </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Pakistan has been reduced to a “Begging
Bowl” as the Economy has been shattered, to say the least, and there is no
money for anything and everything. Thus Indian Railways should create a
foolproof contract with irrevocable Bank Guarantees from Major International
Banks or otherwise I. R. and thereby India will end up with Egg on their Face by
suffering huge Financial Losses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Funny Railway-Political Drama: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pakistan has one WDM2 locomotive (an Alco based 2650HP diesel locomotive) of IR as a war captive! </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 1969, one WDM-2 locomotive of Indian Railways was
appropriated by Pakistan and incorporated into Pakistan Railway's fleet. There
are few details available about the circumstances of the appropriation, and the
road number of the locomotive assigned by IR is not known, although it is
thought to be from a batch erected by DLW-Varanasi in 1965. PR initially
assigned it a road number of 3770, but it was later renumbered to 4621 to fit
into the ALU26 loco series since the WDM-2 is an Alco DL-560 model. As late as
2000, the loco is said to have been active and based at Rawalpindi shed. The
locomotive was nicknamed 'Indira Gandhi' by Pakistan Railways. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, in case a war breaks out between India and Pakistan,
the number of prisoners with upgraded technology will rise to 51. On the other
hand, d</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">uring the India-Pakistan war of 1971, a
locomotive from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) which had arrived at Howrah was
detained and never returned after the war ended. It is located now at Bandel,
although it has never been operated since its appropriation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Inputs from IRFCA acknowledged)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Santulan Mahanta<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Research Scholar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The English and Foreign Languages University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lucknow Campus-226001<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mobile: +919473826815<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">san2lanjbc@gmail.com</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>Santulan Mahantahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403859297758996227noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429620960362895902.post-49028826129074357912011-09-20T10:01:00.000+05:302011-10-03T04:55:12.201+05:30A Pleasant Suffer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It was a journey which was planned of and then re-planned of thrice and modifying the tickets twice, cancelling once! And finally it was fixed to 5th of September, 2011. Combination was 12502 Poorvottar Sampark Kranti from Kanpur Central (CNB) till Guwahati (GHY) and then 15605 GHY-JTTN Intercity Express till Jorhat Town (JTTN). 12502 was scheduled at 06:20 hrs and in order to catch the train from CNB I had to leave Lucknow (LKO) previous night. So, I caught the Marudhar Express which was attached with Ghaziabad (GZB) WAP7 #30279 at LKO. With a wonderful action it took only one and half hours to reach CNB (including the waitings in outers of CNB and LKO). At CNB I had to wait till morning and discovering the waiting hall fully packed I decided to shunt through the platforms in light after putting my luggage under cloak-room's responsibility. Here railfans may question why I chose the Sampark Kranti to GHY instead of other trains. I knew that this train never arrives on time. So if it gets perfectly delayed then I will have the glimpses of the beautiful Dooars area during daytime instead of passing through it at night. Sometimes behind the schedule run becomes a boon and there 12502 never disappoints you. Actually I wonder had this train ever run on time since its introduction! At least I have never been so lucky in last five years.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Before shunting through (you people will say strolling, but me is a railway freak you must understand and hence no apologies for my using of railway jargons) I looked for an idle space suitable to spot almost each and every rail movement to and from CNB! So there was a spot -- at the western end of the PF4, just below a signal on a Loco Pilot's (LP) trunk!!! It was wet due to the rain some two hrs ago. So I brought out a backdated newspaper from my laptop bag and got my majestic <i>Singhasan</i> (well that is the term coined by my roommate for those temporary seats during railfanning sessions!). I was quite comfortably seating there ignoring the drizzle creating awesome auras around the station lights. Only trouble was to pull the piece of folded A4 sheet out of my shirt pocket and protecting it from heavenly drops while making notes of the locos passed by and then again securely pushing it in. Anyways, with lots of previous experiences one can gain mastery over that too. Now I could note down the things which are following below may be to your interest or a tool to bore you for a while ;-)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As I just I took my seat, I heard the announcement for 12226 Kaifiyat Express bound to Azamgarh arrived at PF3 of CNB led by GZB WAP7 #30252. This train will get the traction changed at LKO to Siliguri Junction's (SGUJ) WDP4 link that arrives with Vaishali.12417 Alahabad-New Delhi (ALD-NDLS) Prayagraj express came behind MGS WAP4 #22814. Two and half hrs delayed 12381 Poorva Express via GAYA arrived led by Howrah's (HWH) WAP4 #22862 at PF2. 12380 Amritsar-Sealdah (ASR-SDAH) Jalianwalabagh Express showed up led by HWH old fellow WAP4 #22414. I was basically facing towards the PF1 and just behind me were standing three monsters in their night's sleep only to wake up for their duties in the early morning: WAP4 #22296 of CNB, WAP5 #30025 of GZB and WDM3A #18766 of Jhansi (JHS) in old rebuilt WDM3A livery. The third one was interesting: It got the shed codes marked both in Hindi and in English at the generally Anglicised end, whereas the other end was patriotically dedicated to Hindi only! I wonder whether railfans have come across such rare markings elsewhere or not. I was keen to take a snap of that but thought better not to take out my mobile to direct water exposure. So, railfans you missed the evidence, and I leave it to your spotting of that piece. At the open line beyond PF9 there Andal (UDL) freighter WDG3A #14992 was waiting with a freight load for quite some time. Interestingly this diggy was in red instead of peculiar UDL's military green livery. On the open line between PF 7 and PF8 arrived Abu Road's (ABR) WDG3A #13259 with BOXN rake. As just I noted down it, I had to turn my head again to my original position to discover the monster just arriving in front of me! JHS WDM3D #11289 brought 11016 Kushinagar Express to PF4. Announcements were being made long since, but I couldn't make out on which PF it was coming until then. It was a 24 coacher that day with 14 SL, 2 ACIII, 1 ACII, 3 GS, 1 PC, 2 SLR and 1 Extra SL -- quite a load for the JHS deemer. While Kushinagar was still there, 12309 RJQ Rajdhani appeared at PF2 led by MGS WAP4 #22750. Next I heard the announcement for 12876 Neelachal Express coming on PF4! It was supposed to arrive CNB at 12:30hrs on Sunday but somehow got abnormally delayed. Soon it entered the PF led by GZB WAP5 #30014. A great improvement to this train with loco link changed from WAP1 to WAP5 now a days. Next train appearing on the scene was Rajendra Nagar-New Delhi (RJQ-NDLS) Sampoorna Kranti Express at PF2 led by CNB WAP4 #22301. It was followed by 12403 Alahabad-Mathura junction (ALD-MTJ) Express headed by CNB WAP4 #22228. 12554 Vaishali Express had shown up behind CNB WAP4 #22608. Its loco will be changed to SGUJ WDP4 at Lucknow Junction (LJN). After a while 12404 also appeared in the scenario led by CNB WAP4 #22230. Both up and down trains got CNB link with a single gap in loco numbers!!! Amidst the busy humdrum, derated Agra shunter WDM2 #17360 painted in yellow passed by PF4 quite reluctantly without paying heed to happenings around. Somehow I missed the loco number of 13111. Now I got to be active after sitting at the same position for a long time. I just wonder how LPs manage to do that in a hot oven like loco cab. Slowly I walked towards the eastern end of PF4. At the open line between PF3 and PF4 two diesel monsters were sleeping quietly: JHS WDG3A #13058 Shakti and Itarsi (ET) WDM2 #17577. The latter was recently POHed as it appeared to me. Then I heard the sounds of gongs in unison and found JHS WDM3D #11291 passing by PF7 with empty BOXN rake. I took the foot overbridge to go to waiting room at PF1. There after getting afresh I went to inquire about my train status. It was wonderfully delayed by one hour. Perhaps no one will get delighted on finding his/her train delayed ;-) In the meantime I preferred to miss the morning Rajdhani actions at CNB which otherwise would have been a great attraction for any railfan. I took a cup of tea outside the station premise and then got my luggage out of the cloakroom. When I entered PF1, it was the 12033 CNB-NDLS Shatabdi standing there. The loco in charge was GZB WAP5 #30025 which was a nighttime company to me before it woke up. It was great to see the train getting some passenger response these days. I went to PF6 where my train was supposed to come. That was at that time occupied by 14164 Sangam Express brought by CNB WAP4 #22299. On PF5 came Islampur bound 12402 Magadh Express behind CNB WAP4 #22225. Shramshakti came to PF4 behind CNB WAP4 #22584. 12534 Pushpak Express bound to LJN was led by JHS WDM3D #11284 to PF5. At PF7 came 12419 Gomti Express just on time with usual CNB WAP4 loco link which happened to be #22659 that day. It was a horrible scene; the train was packed like anything. Only commuter trains in Mumbai and Kolkata areas can beat it! From nowhere GD WDM2 #17832 passed by PF8 in light! 13484 Farakka Express banged at PF1 with GZB WAP7 #30234. Soon after Gomti's departure, 14056 Brahmaputra Mail became the occupant of PF7 headed by Mughalsarai's (MGS) WAP4 #22739. This 24 coacher always holds a charm for me. It was loaded with the pantry supplies at CNB. This service need new rakes and proper adherence to its schedule, particularly delays in Bihar has made it infamous. Now after it left the PF, I was again waiting for 12502. Since PF6 was still occupied by Sangam, it was inevitable that 12502 would arrive at PF7 making not much difference. At last the announcement was made the train arrived 2hrs 30minutes behind schedule. Well, well, now there was a wonder as it slowly entered the PF, it was led by GZB WAP5 #30015!!! For the first time I guess it was assigned behind a WAP5 which is generally used to be WAP1.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj440s43DZqcVavKczO5wlqgVVKqM_5ELeK9_CwB9A3Spdbddoz03_RLnLGalW8-aBivMCk355L2OAN2mawYeW_st8emASadF0aQQ9vzD4nwzW4zSjz_G7svWKnzkDpVWCXB9AEJcfPhds/s1600/Photo0237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj440s43DZqcVavKczO5wlqgVVKqM_5ELeK9_CwB9A3Spdbddoz03_RLnLGalW8-aBivMCk355L2OAN2mawYeW_st8emASadF0aQQ9vzD4nwzW4zSjz_G7svWKnzkDpVWCXB9AEJcfPhds/s320/Photo0237.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> 12502 arrived with GZB WAP5 #30015</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span id="goog_791114406"></span><span id="goog_791114407"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I boarded my coach (S11) and got comfortably accommodated to my seat 71 just by the door!!! It was in fact a dilemma whether to rejoice at getting an SL berth or to regret for it being by the door catering space to all day-time travelers. Thankfully this train doesn't have that problem that much because of its limited official stops. Occupant of the seat no. 72 doesn’t seem anxious enough to enjoy the outside view. On the other side of the compartment two families were travelling: husband, wife and a kid in each. They were interacting among themselves without making much noise. Occupants of 68, 69 and 70 were to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) and the rest three were till GHY. The train started moving and quickly picked up speed in WAP5 way. Once it reached 110 and I was convinced that it would make up the delay till Patna (PNBE). On the way varieties of locomotives passed by one by one with their assigned duties: first encounter just at the outer of CNB was an unknown Garib Rath headed by GZB WAP5 #30003 towards NDLS on the ALD-NDLS mainline which I could not discover from the timetable, Lalaguda's (LGD) WAG9 #31189 with coal freight, Ludhiana's (LDH) WDM3A #16641R crossed us with a passenger train at its tow, MGS WAM4 #21392 passed by with another passenger train which was followed by Asansol's (ASN) WAM4 #21381 probably with 11105 Pratham Swatantrata Sangram Express.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This is the season when one can find the real greens of Northern India: crops are yet to get matured enough, fiery summer had given up recently and winter is far enough to strike the trees with its raven claws and rob them of their leaves; recent rain has just cast its spell over the Gangetic plains. One can find Ganga with sufficient water during this season even at Kanpur whose breast was motorable just two months back! Unbelievable but true; I saw people cultivating crops and vegetables on the dry riverbed of Ganga even in the month of July! Perhaps thus forms the desert… slowly… day by day… month by month… year by year… Turning the river to rivulet, brooks to stony heaps… <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtjg0J8je6WDvMlvd7YXJswCYUMPonsFAAHE00zM68gNOW-M9XiYj6p9R-edQmva_It1EUc-Tfj6zqvpcBO-cPRo2SeF5Na62n8mIs5lLFpX6WJvhDBhgvxS8sKM6Ewi1wRNwJhjAoqs/s1600/Photo0238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtjg0J8je6WDvMlvd7YXJswCYUMPonsFAAHE00zM68gNOW-M9XiYj6p9R-edQmva_It1EUc-Tfj6zqvpcBO-cPRo2SeF5Na62n8mIs5lLFpX6WJvhDBhgvxS8sKM6Ewi1wRNwJhjAoqs/s320/Photo0238.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> A comparatively greener North India</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Anyways, soon I felt sleepy and slept for quite some time – a cumulative effect of earlier three days sleeplessness and a single dose for migraine. The cloudy weather hid the sun somewhere behind – creating an ideal weather for travelers. Only for a while I woke up in between when TTE came to check tickets and the pantry car guy came to take orders for lunch. When the train was about to reach Sirathu, a small station before Allahabad, I woke up and went to the wash basin and splashed some water to my eyes.<span> </span>Now I sat comfortably on my seat and looked around. Inside the coach most people were busy taking their lunch. Small boys and teenagers were coming with the paper-soap strips, occasional vendors were frequenting with their moving <i>paan</i>-<i>cigarette</i> <i>bhandar</i> catering not only those two items but varieties of other things such as cheap toothbrushes and toothpastes, toilet-soaps, card packs, sachets of moisturizers, toys for your kid and everything what you might have left behind home while in your hurry to catch the train! And there were some other arrangements for your luxury also, although not officially from railway’s side: There’s the service of a <i>kaam-chalao </i>spa! You can get a nice massage from massagers who will smear kinds of oils all over you and start massaging you for some 10-20 rupees. And if you feel you had not cleaned your ears for a long time then there are people there at your service to do that service to you! Sorry guys, no Swimming pool and bars inside the moving train. But moving booksellers are there catering news-papers junk fictions in local languages and primers for your kids.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I was a bad buyer and very bad in making those kinds of economic deals and so preferred to make a virtual escape from them by looking out through the window. Outside green was embroidered out of a symbiosis of mango trees, guava and banana plantains. Reeds were blooming in white and marked the presence of the autumn carpeting over the vast plains. Yeah, pleasant autumn is not far, North-Indian monsoon and North-Eastern flood days are about to be over. It was Northern summer when I travelled last time to home when everything was dull and dry full of dusty winds; and the summer sun literally burnt down everything and exposed the dry breasts of the earth. The white used to be replaced by black ashes. Whatever may the season be, I noticed the guys in the plantain orchard were adamant enough to defy the seasonal inconveniences working hard all through the year sun burnt and rain drenched. Somewhere at a distance an old mango tree was there forming a symmetric umbrella like structure. A station passed by, Bamhrauli. Tractors were still tilling in this season.<span> </span>I really feel amazed at the busy relentless life these hardworking people lead. They are quite content with their own works and just feel pride in how much they harvested in a year and in fact, that adds to their dignity in the society and overall prosperity. Their looks may deceive people like us leading to consider them as some poor fellows knowing nothing and having nothing. But they are not concerned to what we think, do their works as religiously like going to temple, earn even better than many of the civil servants, and can threaten the union when they stop sending essential commodities to other parasite parts of the Union dwelling mainly on the Central grants and subsidies. But they live far away from us to see them!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Gradually concrete blocks and gardens started appearing – just like plastic models. These structures reminded me of the houses we used to draw in our drawing classes. We used to draw the houses with the ruler which was prohibited. As a result, perfect symmetrical structure underscored than imperfect hand drawn houses. But my art teacher didn't know how much it values in architecture! Well, sign of approaching Allahabad. We were now at Subedarganj.<span> </span>The train slowed down a little. There we slowly passed a level-crossing and I could see people’s contempt for the slow moving train. Seeing their busy gestures, sitting on a bike just one or two feet away from the train, no one can support the notion of lazy Indians. Perhaps lazy people are to be found inside the offices and busy people on the road. Then came the old railway residential quarters with arc type roofs, reminding only two things – geometry and symmetry! Peoples in India may not show any integrity, but cattle are all the same irrespective of their size, breed, colour: carelessly and lazily ruminating at the busiest point in the market or road, no matter how much you honk. Just then lunch was served; not enough to make water in your mouth but sufficient enough to pacify your hunger. The train slowed down a little while entering Allahabad (ALD) and I got a nice opportunity to note down the road numbers of some of the locos at the ALD tripshed: LKO WDM3D #11266 Cheetah, PUNE WDM3D #11348, red coloured LKO WDM3A #16418R, MGS WDM3A #16443R in its typical shed livery and a WDS6 shunter with road number #36267 whose shed I could not make out. At ALD it came to a halt for a longer period than required. On a parallel line there was a freight rake with BOXN wagons loaded with coke. Bills stuck on the wagons read Tata Steel Coke and Tata Metalics Ltd. The freight rake was leading to Chakradharpur. A wagon from the NFR came to my notice with a plea for voting some candidate in the state legislative assembly election! Unity in diversity: wagons from different railway zones together carrying out a mission irrespective of their age. When it moved again I found KTE jumbo WDM2 #17794 ready with Rewa Superfast. The train’s name reminded me of Maharajah of Rewa; his name will remain relevant in the conservation of White Tigers. Electric loco link of this train I missed at CNB. The Yamuna Bridge has been recently painted in silver giving it a more aesthetic look than old rusty one. </div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">After leaving ALD once again I fell asleep and woke up only when the train came to an operational halt at MGS. Loco traction was to be changed to diesel at MGS. Since my coach was quite far from the loco, I preferred not to go that far just to note down the loco number that being attached to. Instead I stretched my legs and comfortably sat on my own seat and looked out through the window if I could see any loco nearby; but there was none at that time. When it started slowly I curiously peeped out to hunt locomotives in the outer world. So killing beauties around the MGS tripshed were: LGD WAG9 #31166, KTE WDM2 #17727, New Katni Junction's (NKJ) WAG7 #27267, Tughlakabad's (TKD) WAG7 #27709, LKO WDM3D #11334 Cheetah, MGS WAG7 #27063, HWH WAP4 #22771 and #22407, ASN WAM4 #21391 (next #21392 of MGS encountered earlier in the morning itself!), Angul's (ANGL) WAG7 #28137 in blue WAP4 shell, JHS WAG5 #24024, MGS WDS6R #36114, CNB WAG7 #27179, two MGS old fellows WDM2 #18203 and #18267 in old rusty livery and MGS WDM3A #18839R in recent MGS livery, LDH WAG7 #27687, MGS WAP4 #22208 and rusty Bardhaman's (BWN) WDM3A #16638. On the way we encountered 12387 Jansadharan Express led by MGS WAP4 #22711.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Our train was 4hrs delayed by the time it left MGS. It was dark already and things outside gradually started becoming invisible. Occasional vendors had already disappeared from the scene. They are more frequent in the North-eastern part than the Northern part of the country. Passengers had taken oath to be quiet or it was due to my isolated seat at the end of the coach, whatever may it be, it was total silence inside the coach. This is something rare these days amidst the mobile-phone terror equipped both with cheap Chinese handsets and cheap songs adding much to one's headache. Now only sound that could be heard of was that of the occasional rhythmical unison on the LWRs repeating over a kilometre’s gap and EMD loco’s notching up sound along with honking. I felt a bit irritated for not being able to get the loco number of our train and that intensified the moment the LP blows the horn reminding me that an EMD loco is in charge of my train and I don’t know who that fellow was! Did the LP swear to irritate railfans like me? At Baxar (BXR) the train came to a dead halt. I found 12401 Magadh Express led by CNB WAP4 #22225 which brought 12402 earlier that day itself. So Magadh Express loco link was clear to me this time. From BXR to PNBE the train moved in a sloth’s pace and giving way to EMU – and another one hour’s delay was added in that portion itself. In between dinner was served and finished. It is always a mystery for me what causes this train to get delayed between BXR and PNBE. Once it entered PNBE farther customary delay takes place for no reason making the train stand still for almost one hour. I was not in a mood to do farther railfanning during the night and arranged my bed. Last loco for that date I encountered was CNB WAP4 #22314 and I closed my locospotting diary for the day with that entry.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">On 6th September morning I woke up at around 5 and discovered the train leaving Kishanganj (KNE)! Huh, means more than 8 hours delayed! I wore my spects but decided to lie on my position only with eyes shut. I was pretty sure that it won’t get farther delayed and proving me right it arrived at Katihar (KIR) and then New Jalpaiguri (NJP) at uncompromising MPS. At NJP we were welcomed by SGUJ WDS6R #36083. At the platform when the train came to halt, coach cleaning staff came hurriedly and performed their duty. Two Malda Town's (MLDT) deemers showed up in the scene: WDM3A #16281R and WDM2A #17307. Without spending a single moment more at NJP wheels started rolling. From here it would take the northern route through SGUJ-APDJ to New Bongaigaon (NBQ). I felt thrill thinking about the oncoming sceneries. As the train took a U-turn towards SGUJ, suddenly I noticed the loco cab of our train’s in charge – it was not WDP4! It was a WDM3D instead! It was a shock to me, when did it got changed from WDP4 to WDM3D? Again that regret followed, I didn’t note down the WDP4 link. Now I was wondering whether the farther delay during the night had anything to do with the loco change from WDP4 to WDM3D.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxx2YBcO6Uyy4peEUbdsngi539VJdq_EyvWb1C8w2gqyM0wAmsjp-_6EH-JhN6O3Z-qAv3g6bbWMhEWedsKmB9qcXVmBNd9XabeoZINCglIRnpOM0LafpIMH80qAcHFKjgegVQcx-4SY/s1600/Photo0239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxx2YBcO6Uyy4peEUbdsngi539VJdq_EyvWb1C8w2gqyM0wAmsjp-_6EH-JhN6O3Z-qAv3g6bbWMhEWedsKmB9qcXVmBNd9XabeoZINCglIRnpOM0LafpIMH80qAcHFKjgegVQcx-4SY/s320/Photo0239.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> 12502 was led by a WDM3D instead of regular SGUJ WDP4!<br />
<br />
Anyways, the unknown deemer was doing justice to its load and was dragging the train to its MPS (maximum permissible speed). While passing by SGUJ found orange coloured New Guwahati's (NGC) WDG3A #14860 smoking with a stationary freight rake facing towards NJP, but real surprise came when I discovered Sabarmati's (SBI) WDG4 #12273 at the other end of the same rake with its SHF facing towards APDJ!!! In NFR we don’t require bankers, so this composition was really mysterious enough. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCZfeXIUaa2PM1CoKejsW1lS3hKTzVmfuJAGO1R-NSqYbbjP-yRk5WQ3dHN-FojIPQnQ1WrmbNlpA-kX2Ae7q2HTGNydBeftGQ8XqmSXC3JyZZyxJ8v1jPSgqb6BUey_GWIzQFfx1ESY/s1600/Photo0240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCZfeXIUaa2PM1CoKejsW1lS3hKTzVmfuJAGO1R-NSqYbbjP-yRk5WQ3dHN-FojIPQnQ1WrmbNlpA-kX2Ae7q2HTGNydBeftGQ8XqmSXC3JyZZyxJ8v1jPSgqb6BUey_GWIzQFfx1ESY/s320/Photo0240.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> DHR Narrow Gauge line goes left towards the uphill</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) NG line crossed our track after SGUJ and bent itself towards left heading the high hill. The small township gradually gave the way to the lush greens of the Dooars. I couldn’t resist the temptation of capturing the video of the dense forests and the WDM3D action through it. It was a sharp contrast – the virgin nature and the mechanical progress of the mankind.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED3c_Db_BIxAdBwKsDcymHed1icTbgZe_xtkkGnUzAEtD-A76aFCL4dILzYakP9u3vuLr7-zj6SQb2VvIYltZX4F2NXF7BhZ8V1CblAmsG686MzX-uJxQu8DTjKHr2FPUOic9QfnIdFc/s1600/Photo0244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED3c_Db_BIxAdBwKsDcymHed1icTbgZe_xtkkGnUzAEtD-A76aFCL4dILzYakP9u3vuLr7-zj6SQb2VvIYltZX4F2NXF7BhZ8V1CblAmsG686MzX-uJxQu8DTjKHr2FPUOic9QfnIdFc/s320/Photo0244.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"No time to turn at Beauty's glance,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And watch her feet, how they can dance..."</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1347247432"></span><span id="goog_1347247433"></span><br />
<br />
The large rivers of the plains were quite smaller here. Youthful Teesta, Jaldhaka of the Brahmaputra plains were just in their teen ages here.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddel0cE3EvcFQSkpodZraZjyR3IVLFnZ8iOUnzjUvyi889JY-K0TipUfCgzFEbzOcse8SfSRJnT7tgYUCI84P1SlD-zr9dQpyc3P5OfK4abppVGBxXuYPc_sYivwLgMIiH3deXR0ckGM/s1600/Photo0332+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddel0cE3EvcFQSkpodZraZjyR3IVLFnZ8iOUnzjUvyi889JY-K0TipUfCgzFEbzOcse8SfSRJnT7tgYUCI84P1SlD-zr9dQpyc3P5OfK4abppVGBxXuYPc_sYivwLgMIiH3deXR0ckGM/s320/Photo0332+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> A beautiful river at the Himalayan foothills<br />
<br />
The most sophisticated video camera also can never capture the one fourth of the view that one can capture through his own eyes. Nature’s spell was wholly cast in that route – big rivers down the Himalaya, dense forests, tea gardens, tunnels, occasional speed restrictions in the elephant corridors, beautiful small railway stations full of flowers and serenity; perhaps we need both Wordsworth and Rossetti to describe that! Anyways a mechanical snake moved through the jungles at a tremendous thrilling speed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">When the train reached Alipurduar Junction (APDJ) it came to a halt at PF2. After ten-fifteen minutes when it refused to move, we inquired to the RPF personnel at the platform about the cause and were informed that due to some agitation at Kokrajhar, all the GHY bound trains have been stopped outside Assam border. Rajdhani, North-East, Brahmaputra Mail, Kamrup etc were waiting in different stations outside Assam border. Agitation was till 17 hrs in the afternoon and apparently we had to keep on waiting there until then. Pantry car had run out of their stocks and there was no order for lunch. Ultimate dependence laid on the platform vendors. But there was nothing other than tea and <i>puri</i>. No fruits or water or cold drink. I locked my luggage with a chain and then came out of the coach. Now I had sufficient time to roam around. First I went on to discover the unknown WDM3D of our train. There were no drivers in the loco but loco was still alive. It was Samastipur's (SPJ) WDM3D #11323.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR_Yqqcvr__aX5nlvuBSNQhz3bFaPatB7SUOXGPndIQuJ5Dm50fhWw_Nmq_WMRgwhI_yL8MOXr8D5IGNy22llElfLEV8YRWeVK85rT0s90teCIp8zImkpnQ9mjV1omf8FYxqvuZo9o-Y/s1600/Photo0361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR_Yqqcvr__aX5nlvuBSNQhz3bFaPatB7SUOXGPndIQuJ5Dm50fhWw_Nmq_WMRgwhI_yL8MOXr8D5IGNy22llElfLEV8YRWeVK85rT0s90teCIp8zImkpnQ9mjV1omf8FYxqvuZo9o-Y/s320/Photo0361.jpg" width="240" /></a></div> SPJ WDM3D #11323 in charge of 12502<br />
<br />
Once the loco number being noted down, my next task was to find details as much possible with my limited knowledge – loco was built in March-2010. But SPJ Diesel loco Shed (DLS) staffs were efficient enough to degrade the loco within that short period of time. The deemer had not a single sandbox undamaged. There were no sand pipes and I was just wondering if on emergency it was to be sent to any high gradient locations?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NHSH4K7TBv8yBGd6BfYf5roFzpm1BB27-UtDI8DEHvrUxh-B1TBY4cdYH1m9Ie3kIsJiGCIjZn9xnEc0yTe8iL5qjS_6eYKDEIZzjuv4__zsDXpy7rMRiIDk3EY1Zz0eNXMrZxQw1Zg/s1600/Photo0363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NHSH4K7TBv8yBGd6BfYf5roFzpm1BB27-UtDI8DEHvrUxh-B1TBY4cdYH1m9Ie3kIsJiGCIjZn9xnEc0yTe8iL5qjS_6eYKDEIZzjuv4__zsDXpy7rMRiIDk3EY1Zz0eNXMrZxQw1Zg/s320/Photo0363.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLO9Q0IZoOgiUSpHgYilXpBlPeRPG2AGa7Zscqvd8Itc4gBFPXGTONfUQXumKFY7OHToi1XLwJka0_2CrvurJlkCIeFaSTZNGU5eNcONpgRRxs6VVZgdFYt5uHJ7SwSrRnNSTRZJZtrnU/s1600/Photo0362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLO9Q0IZoOgiUSpHgYilXpBlPeRPG2AGa7Zscqvd8Itc4gBFPXGTONfUQXumKFY7OHToi1XLwJka0_2CrvurJlkCIeFaSTZNGU5eNcONpgRRxs6VVZgdFYt5uHJ7SwSrRnNSTRZJZtrnU/s320/Photo0362.jpg" width="240" /></a></div> "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">Toota toota ek parinde ki hai SAND BOX toota ; o bhai SAND BOX toota !! Loota loota kisne usko aise loota ; O BHAI uski SAND BOX toota !!" (lyrics by railfan Sarbamit Chowdhury ;-)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">)</span><br />
<br />
Such kinds of negligence are received by HWH WDM3D locos also. At PF1 arrived 13149 Kanchankanya Express led by BWN WDM3A #16413R. MLDT WDM2A #17421 brought New Jalpaiguri-Bamanhat-Alipurdooar passenger to PF3 and then pushed the whole rake back to the coaching yard which used to be the place for earlier MG steam locoshed. Nothing of the steam era exists now. Gonda (GD) WDM2A #17552 brought a freight rake and stood still near the coaching depot. MLDT WDM2B #16765 was shunting with some passenger coaches at the coaching depot. Nothing much left for my railfanning there and so I decided to retire to my seat only.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Sitting on my seat I started speculating whether I’ll be able to catch the Jorhat Town Intercity from GHY in the night or not. As an alternative I thought to book a ticket in the 12067 GHY-JTTN Janashatabdi for the next morning. So I filled up the form and went to the booking counter outside the station premise. There were 5 seats available in CC and I got one. My cellphones were running out of power and needed immediate charging. So I went to PF1 and plugged in them and waited there. It was just like <i>Waiting for Godot</i> – total uncertainty regarding the immediate next step. Once the phones were fully charged I made a call to my home and informed them of the whole situation, but they were not aware of the agitation on that part of the state. Such things have become so common that they have become trivial for the inhabitants of the state and don’t cause any headache unless being affected directly just like me! And anything happens Railways become the foremost target.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">At about 15hrs announcement was made that 12502 would leave shortly. So at 15:15 it was the time to say APDJ goodbye. SPJ deemer notched up to its MPS with its load. Near Chesapani blast-damaged coaches of the Garibrath were still lying. At Dangtal, the train came to a halt on the mainline. GHY-SBC Express passed by behind HWH WDM3D #11204 followed by a freight rake behind SBI WDG4 #12243. Then from our behind an approaching EMD honk was heard – GHY bound Brahmaputra Mail led by SGUJ WDP4 #20082 overtook us! After five minutes gone by, our wheels started moving and we entered NBQ PF1. A small river flows below the PF1. UDL WDG3A #13607 and SGUJ WDG4 #12185 were waiting for some duty. NGC WDG3A #14841 was leading a freight rake towards NJP. KTE WDG3A #14964 was in charge of a military special. It became totally dark at NBQ. The train now took the GLPT route and was in its MPS. Even on the bridge across the Brahmaputra it didn’t slow down. As it was moving at the MPS, my speculations started changing quickly. Now there was a hope that I could catch the JTTN Intercity provided the train is not stopped at the outer for a longer period. I could feel the pull forward and could see the quick passing over the small bridges. It banged at Kamakhya at 20:40hrs and then moved forward honking. Just at the outer of GHY it stopped for 5 minutes and then at 21:05 it entered GHY PF4 and at PF5 was my train! Well, I had ample time now to get into. First I went to the Jan Ahar stall for dinner. Then enjoying a hot meal with egg curry, I came to my train. Now, there was confusion among some people. Since 15603 and 15605 are amalgamated till Furkating (FKG), people got confused which part is going where. Some of them were even unaware of the whole system of amalgamation. So before occupying my seat literally I had to empty half the coach. Some were not ready to accept, but then there were the coolies to convince them! Anyway I got to my seat and surrendered to it. Before falling asleep my locospotting diary got the last entries of the day with HWH WDM3D #11205 and LKO WDM3D #11248 Cheetah. What had happened during the night’s journey went beyond my knowledge except producing my ticket to the TTE. In the morning I woke up at Dimapur (DMV. At Sarupathar we had crossing with 14055 Brahmaputra Mail headed by SGUJ WDP4B #40045. At FKG I decided to board the mainline Intercity (12503) till Mariani Junction (MXN) and from there to catch a cab to home which would make me reach earlier than 15605 and did accordingly.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">When reached home after the suffering (?) <i>safar</i> I was faced with the eternal question by my mom, “why always these misfortunes accompany you only?” Well, I had no answer! </div></div>Santulan Mahantahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403859297758996227noreply@blogger.com0