An Indecisive Indian

  Train 18/Vande Bharat hit buffalos and cows in quick succession and all hell broke loose. There was criticism galore and concern for the train, the passengers and the cattle. Images of the damaged train and carcasses were splashed all over and the social media freaks had a field day speaking for or against the train, with a variety of armchair train couturiers sermonizing me, the creator, on nuances of train design. There were some positive posts too, for sure. Opposition politicians across the board rolled up in glee to castigate the train, which the government had only recently compared with God of trains, the bullet train of Japan.   I was disconcerted by the media blitz on the issue and somewhat nonplussed. As the din receded, I turned to my uncles and Lo! I was stunned and then stupefied by the depth of their enlightening conversation on the issue. It’s hearsay but I reproduce accurately:   Shakespeare: To moo or not to moo, that is the question…   ...

  The Train 18/Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat express was in news again after its grand launch by the PM barely six days ago as it encountered a herd of buffalos on the track and ran them over. The nose cone of the train was damaged and images of the damaged train were splashed all over the social media. Politics also creeped in and some leaders from the opposition parties tweeted shamelessly, and gleefully, as if they were waiting for an unfortunate incident like this to run down the train and therefore the PM.   A bit of a déjà vu and as deplorable as it was so earlier in 2019; the first Train 18 encountered a technical snag while returning from Varanasi after its inaugural trip on 15 th February 2019. Similar negative propaganda ensued from political opponents of the government and even some industrials, notably the chief of a pharmaceutical major from Bangalore, joined the bandwagon of these cynically-antagonist traducers in decrying Integral Coach Factory (ICF), th...

  Anchor:   Welcome Mr. Shakespeare and Mr.  Gh ā lib to this talk session on the ongoing exercise to provide Indian Railways (IR) with a unified management system which works for IR and not for departmental silos. You would have heard of the introduction of Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS), eliminating all the eight departments which were always at each other’s throat. As always, I am in awe in your august presence, I am really fortunate but also unequal to introduce your greatness. You are both acknowledged to have incisive insight into human psychology and therefore Human Resource Management. I humbly solicit you both to introduce yourselves!   Ghālib : So, do you expect me to repeat,   Hogā   koī   aisā    bhī    ki   Ghālib    ko   na    jaane shā.ir to vo achchhā hai pa badnām bahut hai ( badnām : disreputable, ill-famed. Is there anyone, any unfortunate individual, who doe...