Journalism of Courage
An exhibition of rare photographs pays a befitting tribute to 160 years of the Indian Railways
The mention of Indian Railways conjures up images that embody the quintessential characteristics of living and travelling in India. One is accustomed to the blue-clad berths,the ubiquitious pantry service,the classical music radio that crackles periodically with news announcements,and the vocal refreshments vendors at stations. However,far from what one sees today,an exhibition aims to rekindle the past glory of one of the oldest and biggest enterprises in India. Organised by theMinistry of Railways,the exhibition titled 160 Years of Indian Railways: An exhibition of selected photographs from the archives of Indian Railways,will open on May 24 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Delhi.
The plan is to bring Indian Railways back into peoples mind and consciousness, says Seema Sharma,Director,Information and Publicity,Indian Railways,who has organised the exhibition.
A section called Locomotives and Trains is an ode to never-seen-before models of varied kinds,steam and diesel. While one photograph is of a steam engine train bearing an Ashoka Chakra,another shows the engine decorated with British flags. During Independence,there were 42 railway systems owned by private companies,the government and former princely states, says Sharma. The Personalities section shows leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru,Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri on the railways.
Through Station Architecture,one witnesses station sheds during the East India Company days when the tracks by laid private companies,without as much as a thought for stations. It was after the First War of Independence in 1857 when the British government took over and stations became grand representations of power. While Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai and Howrah station in Kolkata depict imperial power,the state lines that ran through the princely states saw a similar shift.
The concluding section is dedicated to the workmen in the railways,now at its strongest with 14 lakh employees. The archival photographs depict railways staff carrying out their roles. The photographs reflect simpler times, says Sharma,who took six months to select the collection.
After Delhi,the exhibition will travel to Mumbais NCPA from June 6 to 16,and later to Patna,Kolkata,Sikandrabad,Allahabad,Bangalore and Chennai.
Right on track
The first line was built between Boree Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane in November 1852,a distance of 34 kms. However,the first train (in India and Asia) was officially flagged off only on April 16,1853. The day was declared a public holiday in Mumbai.
The first city to have the railway was supposed to be Kolkata. Locomotive and carriages for Bombay and Howrah were dispatched from England at the same time,but the ship carrying the locomotive for Howrah was misdirected to Australia and the one with carriages sank in the Bay of Bengal. The first passenger train from Howrah to Hooghly then ran on August 15,1854.
The first toilets in the Indian trains came in 1891.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway,considered an engineering feat when it opened in March 1880,is a world heritage site.
India has had 42 railway companies at the same time.
