An Indecisive Indian

Railway safety is making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, with two dominant narratives emerging based on where you stand politically. On one side, critics claim that the instances of rail accidents have gone up massively in recent times and that Indian Railways (IR) has been focusing on flashy projects like the Vande Bharat trains and swanky stations for sheer optics, neglecting the more pressing issue of passenger safety. On the other side, some allege that cases of averted accidents, and even accidents, have gone up due to nefarious elements working to derail trains by placing obstructions on tracks and that a sinister plot by external enemies is at play, with sleeper cells and saboteurs actively working to cause accidents.   Frankly, both of these perspectives miss the mark by a wide margin.   The recent spate of railway accidents has naturally stirred up public, media, and political scrutiny. However, the conversation often revolves around raw statistics. While i

I have long maintained that, in the absence of any significant technological advancement in the Vande Bharat train technology since the prototype in 2018—aside from some cosmetic enhancements here and there—it is high time for ICF to shift gears and focus on designing and developing an indigenous 240-250 kmph train for Standard Gauge. My blog connects: http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2024/03/export-of-vande-bharat-trains-south.html This would not exactly send the Japanese scrambling to slash their reportedly sky-high prices they have offered for the High-Speed Railway (HSR) trains, given that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR corridor is being built for speeds of 320 kmph. Nevertheless, it would channel India’s indigenous capabilities in the right direction, including a great opening in the field of exporting trains to   middle-income countries. So, the Railway Board’s decision asking ICF to take on this challenge was a breath of fresh air. With the right leadership and unwavering

  Let me first prime you a bit from my blog archives:   http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2022/06/oh-they-kill-with-kindness.html   http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2020/12/hbd-forsooth.html   You now know what to expect. And I too know exactly what is coming when my phone starts pinging with a fury that rivals the roar of Armageddon. I was already between a rock and a hard place when the blitz of World Coconut Day greetings seamlessly transitioned to a deluge of Teachers’ Day wishes. Oh, that blessed Friday the 6th at precisely 3:01 PM when it all began, and the torment continued unabated past Saturday the 7th, 5:37 PM. My phone, laptop, and PC were now gloriously cluttered with no less than 467 digital Lord Ganeshas in various mudras —each one looking more bemused and anguished than beatific. A song with beats from the underworld accompanied these blessed visuals, making the torment complete. Then, as if the gods were testing my resolve, they slipped in greetings for some

  IRMS, often humorously dubbed the Indian Railway Mismanagement Service, serves a rather unique purpose—one might say it is the ultimate Innovative Redundancy Management Scheme . It keeps the practically redundant railway executives in a state of confused bliss, humorously elevating them with a sense of importance even as their roles are being made increasingly marginalised. I have explored this subject extensively in my blogs and newspaper columns, both with serious analysis and a tongue-in-cheek approach (some references in the end). Soon, I resigned to the realization that the IRMS was a dice too firmly cast or a goose too far cooked and held my peace. But recently, my interest was reignited upon stumbling across this intriguing news item:   https://theprint.in/india/governance/as-reform-of-railway-services-merger-unravels-murmurs-of-demerger-gain-ground/2242702/   A bit of background, very briefly.  No one can downplay the need for a positive resolution of the age-old proble

  Air travel might be soaring in India, but so is the sheer pandemonium at our airports and aboard our airborne chariots. The government is all gung-ho and hyped about getting us airborne, but the airlines? Well, they seem determined to make every flight feel like an audition for a role in a slapstick comedy. Between the turbulence on the tarmac and the chaos in the cabin, you’d think they were filming the sequel to ‘A Comedy of Errors’ at 35,000 feet. Amidst this madness, who better to untangle the mess in our skies than our esteemed connoisseurs of chaos— Ghālib and Shakespeare? These two wordsmiths have seen it all, from the love-struck to the battle-weary, but today they are taking on a new literary diversion: deciphering the curious case of Indian air travel. What follows is a slice of their razor-sharp repartee, complete with news links, pithy heedfulness, and the wit of the ages. Welcome to the excerpts from this enlightened, and at once exalted,  tête-à-tête :   https://www.i