Intoxication is a social evil and GRP on duty must be prohibited from consuming liquor

COPS-SOLDIERS CLASH
Police to move court for custody of Army men
Military Police team visits Kathua rly station, begins probe
Tribune News Service Jammu, September 12, 2012
A day after registering an FIR against Army men, including two officers, following a clash at the Kathua railway station, the police has decided to approach court to get the custody of the personnel whose names figured in the report.
Sources said senior police officers felt that it was not possible for them to get the custody of those “involved” in assaulting the policemen and ransacking the police station so they had decided to approach the court.
Meanwhile, a team of the Military Police today visited the Kathua railway station and started investigations into the case.
The Defence PRO, however, issued a handout and clarified the Army’s position in the incident.
“Two jawans from the Army were proceeding on leave from the Kathua railway station. While waiting for the train around 9:30 pm at the railway station, one of the jawans went to charge the battery of his mobile phone from a plug point installed in the alleyway located at the entrance of the railway station. Immediately, a General Railway Police person came and started abusing the Army jawan and asked him why he charged his phone from the plug point. The jawan immediately apologised and removed his mobile phone,” the handout stated, adding, “The GRP person, who was visibly in a drunken state, used unparliamentary language and hit the jawan with his rifle butt. On being pushed by the Army jawan, the GRP person called his colleagues present at the railway station. All of them started beating up the Army jawan and dragged him to the GRP office at the railway station.”
While the Army jawan was being dragged by GRP personnel, he screamed for help. A local boy then alarmed the other jawan, who was waiting for his train at the station. The jawan immediately went towards the GRP personnel and asked them to stop beating up his unit colleague and also asked them why they were beating him up. The GRP personnel abused him also and tried to drag him inside the GRP office. However, he managed to escape and immediately called up his unit, the handout stated.
“The abducted jawan was severely beaten by over 15 GRP personnel with rifle butts, belts and sticks. Around 10:15 pm, when representatives from the Army reached the location, all the GRP personnel had left the scene except a head constable and a constable who were in their office. On being inquired about the incident and reasons for beating up the Army jawan, the head constable did not respond and refused to give contact numbers of his superiors to whom the Army representatives wanted to speak,” the handout said.
The Army representatives waited for one and a half hour for the GRP authorities, but nobody turned up. Finally, the Army representatives asked the GRP personnel to accompany them to the Kathua police station to which the head constable agreed.
“What is important is that no police station was ransacked, the alleged kidnapping of GRP men did not take place, as the head constable willingly accompanied the Army personnel to lodge an FIR and no GRP personnel were thrashed or beaten up as alleged in few media reports. The charges levelled against the Army are totally baseless,” the handout stated.
Police to move court for custody of Army men
Comment: It is common knowledge that Police in the Railway Stations (GRP) are drunk on duty. There is no one to monitor their indiscipline. Moreover their general behavior towards citizens is not friendly. This episode needs to be probed and culprits brought to book. Blaming the Army personnel for misbehavior is ridiculous.

Indian Railways take Fauji Veterans taken for a ride

Mamata's patriotic song becomes swansong for ex-servicemen
By Quaid Najmi | IANS – Sun, Sep 18, 2011
Mumbai, Sep 18 (IANS) Former railway minister Mamata Bannerjee's patriotic song for the country's armed forces and promise of railway jobs for ex-servicemen became quite a hook for many a battle-scarred ex-soldier. But now they would like to make it their swansong.

Lured by the promise of a permanent job, ex-servicemen responded to a railway recruitment drive across its divisions earlier this year, in the chimeric hope of a rewarding new career.

When they finally got their appointment letters in June, however, they were shocked to find that they had been placed as cleaners, waiters, loaders, and in other menial positions.

Many claim that they were short-changed even with regard to pay and other emoluments as compared with what they got in the Army, Navy and Air Force or would have got in the private sector.

One such applicant, Venkateshu Sanjiva, of Karnataka had taken part in the action in Operation Bluestar in Punjab in 1984, and also during the Kargil war.

After retirement from the Indian Army as a technical-level store-keeper, he joined Reliance in Navi Mumbai, managing its labour camp on a monthly salary of around Rs.20,000.

'I responded with great hope to the Central Railway (CR) advertisement this year and quit my private job to re-join government service. I was aghast to be appointed as a cleaner in the canteen at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai,' Sanjiva told IANS.

A former Army Medical Corps store-keeper, Santosh Salvi of Thane, had a similar experience: he was placed as a cleaner-cum-loader in pantry cars of long distance trains originating in CST.

'I have served in places like Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala under extremely trying circumstances. Now, I am reduced to a pantry car cleaner-cum-loader after 24 years' military service,' Salvi rued.

A resident of Ahmednagar, Sunil Funde, who retired as a store-keeper (technical) in remote border areas after 25 years, is now a cleaner in the central railway canteen at CST and, at times, doubles as a waiter.

Former army subedar D.V. Bhoite said he 'feels totally let-down' after getting an appointment letter as a cleaner in the CST canteen.
click here to read more

Giant step in Delhi- Metro Rail at your doorsteps

THE BIG LEAP: Over 70 stations will bring Metro closer to everyone in Delhi.
NEW DELHI: If you live in Panchsheel Park, Vasant Vihar, RK Puram, Shalimar Bagh, South Extension, Sarojini Nagar or IP Extension and have been waiting for the Delhi Metro to come to your doorstep, here's some good news. The detailed project report (DPR) of Phase III of the Metro network, submitted by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to the Delhi government, has been finalized. It covers 103.05km of the city, with over 70 stations dotting the alignment. From Mukundpur in North Delhi to Azad Nagar and Yamuna Vihar in east Delhi, and from Punjabi Bagh (west) in west Delhi to Panchsheel Park and Jasola in South Delhi, the alignment interconnects the city forming two rings around it.

Transport Minister Arvinder Singh says, "The DPR will be sent to the Centre soon. We have added another corridor to the existing alignment, from Dwarka Morh to Najafgarh. DMRC has been asked to prepare the detailed project report for this corridor as well." The corridors that have been drawn up in the present DPR are final, says Singh. According to the minister, the primary criterion for the third phase of the Delhi Metro was connection to the large tracts of the city in the west and east that had been left out in the two previous Metro phases. South Delhi also needed better connectivity. "The alignment is quite long, perhaps one of the longest in Delhi but it addresses the transport needs of a large section of the capital," adds Singh. It also provides a connection to the domestic airport, an alternative to the present Airport Express Metro line that connects directly to the international airport.

The alignment is certainly extensive. The present alignment has four major corridors - one from Mukundpur to Rajouri Garden via Dhaula Kuan and all the way to Anand Vihar and thereafter, Yamuna Vihar via Azad Nagar in East Delhi. This corridor, which is the longest in the third phase, is 55.69km in length and has 10 interchange stations on the way. It covers a large demography, from the far-flung localities in Mukundpur and Shalimar Bagh to Moti Nagar and Nariana, ultimately connecting it to the business district of Bhikaji Cama Place and commercial hubs such as South Extension and Lajpat Nagar. From here, the line twists towards Hazrat Nizamuddin and then on to Mayur Vihar. Here, it goes through the congested colonies of Trilokpuri and Vinod Nagar before winding to the middle-class IP Extension. The line then again takes a turn and moves towards Anand Vihar, Jagatpuri, Azad Nagar, and on to Welcome, Jaffrabad and Maujpur to end in Yamuna Vihar.

The second corridor, meanwhile, measuring 33.49km, encircles all the major south Delhi localities. Starting from Janakpuri West, an interchange station, it goes through Dabri Morh, Palam and stops at Indira Gandhi domestic airport. Thereafter, it goes on to Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram, IIT and Panchsheel Park before connecting Chirag Delhi, GK Enclave and Kalkaji to Okhla, Jamia Nagar, Jasola and Kalindi Kunj. The line finally stops at Botanical Garden (part of line 3: Dwarka sector 21 to Noida City Centre) after a station at Amity Noida.

The shortest alignment is perhaps the Jehangirpuri-Badli line at 4.48km in the third phase. The stations on the way include Badli, Rohini Sector 18 and Jehangirpuri in the present DPR, which then connects to Adarsh Nagar station on line 2 (HUDA City Centre-Jehangirpuri).

While the majority of the alignment is elevated under the present DPR, several parts also go underground. Only the Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate corridor is completely underground. Of the 103.05km, around 41km is underground track.

According to Singh, work on the third phase is expected to start soon. Singh said, "Part of the funds have already been released by both the Centre and Delhi government. As the work continues, more funds will be made available." As per the funding pattern drawn up by planning commission, part of the funds will be raised from international agencies while around 50% will be put up by the Centre and the Delhi government for the third phase. Singh says that funds are not a problem. "Like the first two phases, the third phase, too, will be funded by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). We have received positive response from them," he adds. However, no formal agreements have been signed yet, admits Singh.

Officials say work on the third phase will start with the Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate and the Yamuna Vihar-Anand Vihar stretches. "The funds made available so far by the Centre and state government will be utilized at present," said an official from DMRC.
Metro Rail is coming to your doorstep

National Security: Chinese Rail to link Pakistan

PTI, Jul 7, 2010, 02.09pm IST
NEW DELHI: India today expressed "concern" over China's plans to have a rail link with Pakistan through the Karakoram ranges, but said it was doing its own preparations to counter such a move.

"It is definitely a matter of concern. But we are taking our counter measures and we are doing our own preparation," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on the Chinese plans to build the rail link to Pakistan and reach the Arabian Sea via Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pak-occupied Kashmir.

Raju said both China and Pakistan had made it "very apparent" that they were "working closely together and cooperating closely" on defence and strategic issues.

China has already built a rail line up to the Indian borders along the Tibetan plateau and now the plan is to have the rail link to Pakistan and reach the Arabian Sea.

Media reports had suggested that a Memorandum of Understanding for the rail link will be signed between Beijing and Islamabad soon.
Chinese rail link to Pak matter of concern: India

Indian Railways high speed recruitment drive

Multi-crore railway recruitment exam scam unearthed
19 Jun 2010, 0327 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has unearthed a railway recruitment scam running into crores and arrested eight persons including the son of the Mumbai Railway Recruitment Board chairman for allegedly leaking and selling exam papers.

“The CBI has unearthed railway recruitment scam by conducting simultaneous raids at Mumbai, Bangalore, Raipur, Kolkata and Hyderabad. This scam relates to the examinations of Assistant Loco Pilot and Assistant Station Master. It is estimated that the scam runs into several crores of rupees,’’ CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said.

The CBI has arrested Vivek Bhardwaj Sharma, son of S M Sharma, chairman of Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Mumbai, the then Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM), Raipur, A K Jagannathan, his son Srujan and a Raipur-based agent.

This is being seen as one of many scams being carried out by gangs in different parts of the country. The agency has warned aspirants against falling for such scams and bringing it to the attention of the nearest CBI branch.

This particular scam relates to examinations that were held on June 6 and June 13 this year for induction of staff in Group C category of the Indian Railways. According to the CBI, Jagannathan in connivance with the officials of RRB, Mumbai, allegedly obtained a copy of the question paper before the examination date and provided the paper to aspirants who were identified by agents.

``The aspirants of the examinations so mobilised were asked to pay huge amounts of money and deposit their original certificates with the then ADRM and only after that the question paper was provided to them one day prior to the examination,’’ the CBI said, adding, ``The agreement is to pay the remaining portion of money and take away the certificates after the declaration of the results. Each aspirant allegedly paid Rs 3.5 lakhs in installments to get the paper a day before the examination and then to be selected for the job.

Jagannathan, Sharma, Srujan and the agent were produced in a Hyderabad court and remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody. Three Hyderabad-based agents and an employee of health department of government of Andhra Pradesh were also arrested.

The CBI said that searches led to the detection of Rs 60 lakhs in the banks accounts of the family members of the RRB chairman. The CBI further said that Vivek Sharma purchased a Pajero from the ill-gotten money in the name of a relatives.

CBI sleuths have recovered Rs 21.5 lakhs in cash and original certificates of 444 aspirants from the Jagannathan’s residence in Hyderabad, while Rs 12 lakhs were recovered from his possession at a hotel in Bangalore. Question papers and original certificates of the aspirants were also found in the hotel.

The CBI said several incriminating documents have been recovered from the searches at Kolkata, Hyderabad and Raipur. The RRBs across the country conduct examinations for induction of staff in Group C category of the Indian Railways.
Multi-crore railway recruitment exam scam unearthed

Comment: Typically all government recruitment drives/ schemes are a farce generally leading to a scam. The military recruitment rallies are also saddled similarly by politically connectd touts who rule the roost! Here again the Military is made a scapegoat of recruiting below par Jawans.

Mumbai to get its first China made Metro in April

Mumbai gets its first China made Metro in April
Mumbai: Mumbaikars would soon get a glimpse of the city's first Metro train, due to arrive from China in mid April.

China to supply trains for Mumbai Metro 2010-03-23 22:00:00
A Chinese firm will send 18 high-capacity Metro trains for the new subway rail project in Mumbai as part of a $110 million deal, the company said here Tuesday.

The trains were China's first-ever export of A-type subway trains, which were wider than 3 metres and had greater passenger capacity than other models, said Qian Houkuan, director of information and technology at CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works, the manufacturer.

The trains rolled off the production line March 20 and would take a month to ship from Shanghai before undergoing trial runs in Mumbai, which is scheduled in May, Xinhua quoted Qian as saying.

The trains, with automatic driving systems and the capacity to reach maximum speed of 80 km per hour, could operate at temperatures up to 55 degrees Celsius and in 100 percent humidity.

Each of the 3.2-metre compartments could carry 390 people, 72 more than the 3-metre A-type trains used in China, Qian said.
Mumbai to get its first China made Metro in April

China’s New Bullet Train Breaks Speed Record; Makes Amtrak Cry

China’s Harmony train can now boast of being the fastest long distance passenger train on the planet. The Harmony express raced 1,100 km in less than three hours on Saturday, travelling from Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, to the central city of Wuhan. The journey previously took at least 11 hours [Financial Times]. That’s almost like traveling from New York City to Indianapolis by train in three hours. Even if you encountered a two and a half hour delay, which happened to one unlucky load of Harmony riders this week, you’d still make great time.

See the train in action in the video below:


The train will run 56 times per day and the cheapest fare is 490 yuan (roughly $72), however many slower trains along the same route will be axed to help cover costs.
Harmony reached a top speed of 217 miles per hour (350 km per hour) on its debut, bumping off Japan’s Shinkansen bullet train and France’s TGV, both of which can travel at 186 miles per hour (300 km per hour). Embarrassingly for the United States, Amtrak’s Acela service takes three and a half hours to travel the 186 miles (300 km) between New York and Boston.
For a look at Chinese high speed rail, both present and future, and the state of U.S. high speed rail spending, click over to Next Big Future.
China’s New Bullet Train Breaks Speed Record; Makes Amtrak Cry

Fastest Indian Train

Army Vice Chief Launches CGDA’s Rail E-Ticketing

Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen PC Bhardwaj launched a pilot project of Rail e-ticketing for the Armed Forces, here today. The project, being implemented by the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), will initially be available at 20 locations spread across the country. Armed Forces personnel will now have the convenience to book and print tickets through IRCTC website at unit locations. The project will enable automatic generation of all accounting, payment and financial reports.

Speaking on the occasion, General Bhardwaj said that the new system will cut tedious paperwork and introduce seamless processing “in one stroke”. He hoped that the ‘PCDA (Principal Controller of Defence Accounts) Travel System’ will slowly make the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) irrelevant and become a precursor to automation and better management. In her address, the CGDA, Smt Bulbul Ghosh said that the pilot project will gradually be expanded to more than 5,000 Army, Navy and Air Force units across the country. The e-ticketing system will be completed in four phases, - the first phase will cover Rail Travel, Air Travel will be covered in the second phase, Defence civilians will be included in the third phase and TA processing will be completely online in the final phase.

The main features of the e-ticketing facility are availability round-the-clock, user friendly, ease of operation and accounting while taking care of security concerns. In the new system, the units will be enabled to have a virtual PRS of the railways in the units itself, which will be enabled to issue tickets through a centralised portal operated by the CGDA office. For this purpose, the CGDA has entered into an agreement with the IRCTC. With this facility, the system of railway warrants which obliged Armed Forces personnel to go in for manual tickets at the PRS counter and involved a lot of paperwork, will gradually be replaced.

Over six million warrants are issued to the Armed Forces every year, involving worth over 580 crore rupees. PK/HH/RAJ PIB
Army Vice Chief Launches CGDA’s Rail E-Ticketing

Power + Incompetence = Oversized Indian Bureaucracy

Nobody should object to the corporatisation of the railways, on the lines of MTNL and BSNL
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi August 12, 2009, 0:58 IST

Now that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is getting serious about reducing the number of central ministries, it is time to take a close look at what actually contributes to the huge size of the bureaucracy that very often incurs the wrath of experts and critics for being both inefficient and ineffective.

The total number of central government employees, according to the finance ministry’s estimate, was 3.32 million last March, a little more than 3.22 million a year ago. Next year, it is set to go up to 3.36 million. Mind you, this number does not include non-civilian employees under the ministry of defence or those directly employed in the three wings of the armed forces. What this shows is that the government’s headcount continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace — by about 100,000 in the last one year and by about 43,000 this year.

There is, however, another way of looking at the size of the central government’s workforce. Three major components of the government’s total staff strength account for as much as 81-84 per cent of the total number of employees. These components are the Department of Posts (484,000), Police (839,000) and the Indian Railways (1.4 million).

If Manmohan Singh can keep these three departments out, the central government’s total workforce will come down to around 600,000-640,000. After this, the department with the largest number of employees will be the Revenue Department with about 100,000 employees used for collecting taxes. With the use of technology and outsourcing of tax collection and information dissemination moving at a steady pace, there is no reason why the government cannot keep its staff strength under check.

There is a way out of the problem of an oversized bureaucracy. The Manmohan Singh government has to look for it and take the necessary steps.
Read full article:
A K Bhattacharya: Reducing India's bureaucracy

Science Exibition on Wheels, 55 locations traversing 18,000 Kms

Indian Railways in the education modeThe Phase-III of the 'Science Express' which was inaugurated by Chairman, Railway Board Shri S. S. Khurana on 2 October 2009 at Gandhinagar will travel to 55 locations, mostly not covered earlier, covering about 18,000 kms in seven months of its journey. It is covering the entire length and breadth of the country. At each of the locations, it would halt for 3-5 days, during which students and general public would visit the exhibition. The 55 locations will include Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Madgaon, Hubli, Bangalore Cantt. Mysore, Calicut, Thirvanthapuram, Salem Town, Balasur, Dimapur, Darbhanga, Chhapra, Amethi, Jammu Tawi, Kapurthala, Delhi Cantt, Agra Cantt, Jhansi and Ujain.

The sparking white, fully air conditioned train has 16-coaches. The exhibition, with more than 300 large-format visual images, over 150 video clips and multimedia exhibits, deals extensively with cutting-edge research and technology. In the 12 exhibition coaches, most of exhibits have been developed by the max Planck Society, Germany noble laureate powerhouse while some exhibits are indigenous. Through these, the visitors explore wide areas in science in a fascinating manner and delve into the mysteries of our world, groundbreaking discoveries, emerging issues, cutting-edge science and future-oriented technologies. The exhibits explain our universe – how it all began, glimpses of space, black holes, galaxies, on the way to the Big Bang, our home in the cosmos, Spaceship Earth, simpler cold atoms, ultra short light, biotechnology, building blocks of life from 'gene to organism', the world of senses, architecture of the mind, renewable energy, technologies and energy sources for future, nanocosmos, bio-engineering, genetics, cell biology, computer applications in medicine and global challenges.

There is dedicated coach on 'Climate Change – Cause, Effect and Mitigation', sponsored by HSBC as an initiative of the 'Earth Sciences Forum'. Exhibits on 'Energy Conservation' from PCRA and poster on 'Nutrition' from Nestle are the new attractions in this Phase.
‘Science Express’ train will travel to 55 locations & cover 18000 kilometres in seven months

Railway on the Roof of the World

Lhasa Railway Station
Key facts about Qinghai-Tibet Railway
China opened the world's most elevated railroad, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, on Saturday 01 July 2006. Below are some facts about the Qinghai-Tibet Railway:

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the first railroad linking Tibet with the rest of China.

China has solved three major difficulties, namely frozen tundra, high altitude and plateau environmental protection, to rewrite the world's history of railway construction with the completion of Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest railway. Some 960 kilometers of its tracks are located 4,000 meters above sea level and the highest point is 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the world's most elevated rail. The line has a capacity of eight pairs of passenger trains, and the carriages are specially built and have an oxygen supply for each passenger.

The railway is the world's longest plateau railroad, extending 1,956 kilometers from Qinghai's provincial capital Xining to Lhasa in Tibet. The Golmud-Lhasa section zigzags 1,142 kilometers across the Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges.

About 550 kilometers of the tracks run on frozen earth, the longest in any of the world's plateau railways.

Tanggula Railway Station, 5,068 meters above sea level, is the highest railway station in the world.

Fenghuoshan Tunnel, 4,905 meters above sea level, is the world's most elevated tunnel on frozen earth.

Kunlun Mountain Tunnel, running 1,686 meters, is the world's longest plateau tunnel built on frozen earth.

The maximum train speed is designed to reach 100 kilometers per hour in the frozen earth areas and 120 kilometers per hour on non-frozen earth.

About 29.46 billion yuan (3.68 billion U.S. dollars) had been spent on the Golmud-Lhasa section which runs 1,142 kilometers.

The basic coach ticket, called a hard seat, sells for 389 yuan (48.6 U.S. dollars) from Beijing to Lhasa, while the price for hard sleeper or bunk costs 813 yuan (101.6 dollars), and the price for a shared compartment or soft sleeper is 1,262 yuan (157. 75 dollars).
Train to Lhasa- fact sheet
Largest construction project built on permafrost since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was completed in 1977

Why not a Railway Link from Delhi to Cambodia?

Can we match our neighbours in Rail Links stretching beyond our boundaries?

India to build rail line to Ladakh
KATHMANDU (AFP)– Apr 26, 2008— China has started to build a rail link between Tibet and Nepal that could drastically reduce Kathmandu's trade reliance on its giant southern neighbour India, officials said Saturday. Beijing is bringing the railway line from Lhasa -- the capital of troubled Chinese-controlled Tibet -- to Khasa, a town along the Nepal-China border, Aditya Baral, the Nepalese premier's foreign affairs adviser, told AFP.
China begins building Tibet-Nepal rail link
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India to build rail line to Ladakh
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monumental chinese "sky train" leaps across the roof of world
Pakistan-Turkey rail trial starts

THE TIME MACHINE: Musings of a Veteran

Now on this morning, taking a flight from Delhi to Banglore as I strap myself in the not so comfortable seat of the economy class Air bus, though, far more comfortable than the hard wooden berth of the Third class railway compartment I traveled on for my earlier journey to Banglore that I am reminded of.

It was some time in late 1952, then a student of MSc Final in Lucknow University, that I got a call from Army Headquarters to report to the Services Selection Board (South). The UPSC had been kind to me in that, for the combined written test, preceding the Board, I had been allotted Allahabad, not too far from Lucknow as the Exam Centre. Army HQ had no such, considerations and I was required to travel to Banglore, some where down South, just a spot, which I remembered on the map of India, in the Geography Class of yore as a student of Class X.

Taking a rickshaw from the hostel, with just a hundred rupee note in my pocket, I arrived at the Charbagh railway station. Traveling third class, changing trains, at times near mid- night, finding a berth and managing the connections was in itself an adventure. As the trains sped south, the ever changing vista, unfolding and speeding backwards, had me riveted to the scene outside, it was the geography lesson coming alive. The aroma of the unfamiliar food items on the stations where the train halted, the cacophony of the un- understood combined gibbering of the hawkers, porters and the multitude of passengers all in a melee, did provide some diversion and mental relief from the long and tiring journey. Five days, four changes, Kanpur, Jhansi Secundrabad, Guntkul, later I arrived at Bangalore, having, in the process, acquired a stiff- neck from looking out of the window during the waking hours and a nagging pain in the back due tossing and turning that too with difficulty, on the narrow hard wooden berth. I was hungry but had no appetite for the Idli, Dosa and other fare, for which I had yet to acquire a taste, available en-route, which were as foreign to me as Banglore.

Banglore, those days, was a retiree’s heaven, with a lay back life style, living in bungalows with large compounds, flowers and tall trees. It was a city full of greenery, clean and fresh air, with only a few vehicles plying on the wide roads that too under the strict and watchful eyes of the traffic cops. There were rows and rows of ice-cream parlors, coffee shops, and a multitude of cinema houses. sixty-four or so that I counted on the guide map, and the ubiquitous Uddapee restaurants, specialists in Idli, Dosa and coffee, the cup of tea that I was so used to sadly conspicuous by its absence.

The aircraft door closes with its characteristic bang and whoosh, sealing us in the air-conditioned capsule After two hours plus of looking out, of and on, from the window with nothing much to see except some clouds floating down under, flicking through the newspaper, the Swagat in-flight IA magazine and pecking at the served snacks, drinking cups of coffee and water from a couple of miniature water bottles, I felt the plane letting its nose down and once again we were on mother earth. The Ac door opened, after a bit of ceremony by the cabin crew and we were in Banglore.

The time machine of IA had taken just hours of so to bring me to Banglore of the day, a Banglore so different from that of yore, totally .unrecognizable- in a hurry, chaotic and moving at a snails pace. The high power cars crawling helplessly, the daredevil two wheelers sneaking through nonexistent openings, the ramshackle buses spewing black clouds of unburnt diesel, and gleaming High rises, replacing the earlier bungalows and the green trees, the hiding the sky, the price of progress, it was distressing to say the least, albeit with one saving grace; tea and North Indian food now available at every nook and corner.

Alas the IA time machine which had so effortlessly compressed five days in hours cannot take me back to the Banglore that I had visited in 1952 that had captured the imagination of a young me. However, wonder of wonder what IA can’t do, the present Government of Karnatak has done with one single stroke and taken every one back way down the time by just adding a few letters to Banglore and making it Bengaloru, indeed really a Time machine.

Brig Lakshman Singh (Retd)