Indian railways is well known as the arteries and veins of India. It is the largest serving rail network in the world. But this blog is not about the Indian Railways but it’s about the station. The center of action, the gateway to the world of Indian Railway.
The Railway station, many of us as kids were fascinated by the very thought of going there, even now it makes me nostalgic and takes me back into my childhood. A railway station is a small world in its own right with its inhabitants and aliens, that’s us the visitors or the travelers.
When you enter a railway station in any part of India, it has its own culture which is unique to the railway station, but at the same time it carries influences of the local culture. The changing times , taste and culture is well reflects in a railway station more then any place. This makes a railway station all the more interesting.
The first thing that hits you when you enter is people … people and people…
But they are the very essence of it. This is the place where all of us are on the same platform “literally” J . The rich, poor young and old. You would not find this fusion anywhere else, in any city or place.
As you stroll through a platform, of course with constant nudging and squeezing you kind of lose yourself in this ocean of people, your ears reverberate with the constant chanting of food sellers, the “Chai walas”, the vada pav, dosa, idli, juce , minireal water, coffee you name it. Your eyes will get used to the constant movement of the men in red , the men in brown and the men in white, the porters who we all know as “the kuli” , the railway lines men and the famous Ticket collectors. (TO BE CONTINUED)
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