Oh Indian Railway! You Are Uniquely Great.
Oh Indian Railway! You Are Uniquely Great.
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I suppose myself to be perfunctory religious whose concern for religion is more theoretical than practical. It is so because my religiosity in popular terms is mostly limited to reading books of religion. The fact is that I read more and more to follow less and less.
But my wife is exactly the opposite. Contrary to my disposition;she reads less but is inclined to do more such things as could make anyone truly religious.
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Anyway, my wife said to me that it has been a long time since she went to Devghar-Baidyanath Dham.Towards fulfilment of this joint wish of ours I got tickets booked to journey by train.
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Heigh ho! Train after train was being set on fire by the youth(?) of India. Violence,arson,incendiary were at their demoniac display on platforms as if theft,creating filth and misdemeanor of sorts during normal times were not enough as a favourite pastime of its users.
The trains were being cancelled on account of this unrest created by anti-social elements who had a field day to prove their (un)worth.
The print and electronic media were abuzz with the news of such violence.
What could be done in the said situation save that journey be postponed and tickets cancelled.
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Our plan failed; courtesy the urgency created by hoodlums and goons.
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I have great respect for the Indian Railway and their employees.The respect is not without reasons.The reason may be inspiring for any other system to become professional par excellence.
When I was a student of Management,I was once taught about some attributes of a robust but faithful system.
So I thought, what makes a system to earn respect?
@The first that earns respect for a system is its "Reach".
Who can deny that this railway is within reach of all Indians-rich or poor?
It is the railway which is not only accessible but affordable for one and all.
The railway is simply great not only because it is cheap, but also because of its spread that is fit to be called "omnipresent".
Wherever you go, generally speaking, you find railway present around you at least in the form of a railway track at a distance of some kilometres from where you stand.
The vast territorial expanse of the Indian Railway is simply Indescribable.
Is any system parallel to it? I have not found anyone.
@The second that makes a system worthy of earning respect is its "Reliability." Can any system match with the railway in respect of reliability? The answer is "no".
It is the reliability of the railway operating in a supremely dedicated way that makes us plan our journey even four months in advance!
In a rapidly changing time when we can not predict as to what will remain of our relationship, the railway assures that you may change or cancel your journey but I am not going to change my thoughts in respect of providing you the service I render throughout the year on all weather;day and night.
Railway says -I am here in your service; as always.
@The third is "Predictability" & "Reproducibility" of the system.It is the predictability & reproducibility of the Indian Railway that makes it special. Can you predict that you will meet a babu or the boss in an office? Only a fool will think it's guaranteed.
But you will find the train arriving at the same time not only for today but everyday on their scheduled time. If the scheduled time of a train to arrive at a particular station at a particular time is known,it does arrive at that time with highest degree of predictability! And that too to our surprising satisfaction in view of the scale of operation which is so vast.
Its commitment to reach the destination at scheduled time is almost guaranteed.
A guarantee that seldom or never fails.
Is any other system in any field whatsoever that is equally, reliable, robust, predictable, reproducible, affordable and expansive like the Indian Railway operating at such a large scale?
It not even in abroad -I suppose.
For me its operation is nothing short of a miracle given a host of native factors which need not be mentioned.
Only hinting as above will be suffice.
@ Last but not the least in the list is "Connectivity".
Indian Railway has connected almost each nook and corner of the country in respect of which no other system is there to compete with it; leave alone transport system.
And see our prudence or the lack of it! Far from adding any value to it, we are hell bent to destroy this system.
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We decided again to meet the Baba to seek His blessings.
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A week later we undertook the journey that remained unmaterilised due to said commotions. We boarded the train at the platform. At the railway track adjacent to another platform lay a number of burnt bogies and heaps of damaged properties littered here and there. Some of the stations that followed during journey were no different in respect of destruction and damage of properties that railway suffered without any rhymes or reason.
I felt they bore testimony to our behaviour with the railway as to how we express our gratitude in lieu of the services railway has been providing selflessly for centuries.
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Note-(I)It is clarified that my respect and gratitude for the railway is purely born out of my personal experience with it. It helped me get a job by facilitating a concession ticket when I was a student undertaking a number of journeys in connection with taking various competitive examinations held in different states.
(II)It is further clarified that no one in my family including myself is in the Indian Railway nor is employed with the railway any of my relatives-distant or close.
R.R.Prabhakar.
25.06.2022.
(While in train).
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