An Indecisive Indian

I had joined Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, in 2001, still the new face in the unit, learning the smell of its steel, diesel and bureaucracy as yet. Before I could settle into my role, the General Manager decided to hand me another hat, that of Honorary General Secretary of the Sports Association, perhaps because I had active interest in sports. It sounded straightforward enough. Then they told me I would be assisted by one Mohammad Shahid, the Assistant Sports Officer. Mohammad Shahid! Even the name was enough to make the air stand still. Shahid—the hockey wizard whose stick could bend a match to his will; the man whose artistry had delivered India its golden moment in the Moscow Olympics, and whose genius had lit up the international hockey arena many times over. His story was the stuff of quiet legend. Born into a modest family in the narrow lanes of Varanasi, he had risen to dazzle the world as India’s ace forward. The Indian Railways (IR), recognising his genius, brought...

  I am no painter with a brush nor sculptor with chisel in hand—just a humble novice in the cathedral of good art. Yet I do know how to cradle an idea, to carry it faithfully across the distance from thought to reality. It began, long ago, with the iron muse of my profession. In thirty-five years as an Indian Railways officer, the moment that etched itself deepest was not a groundbreaking project or a grand inauguration, but a quiet evening between Hindupur and Bangalore. There I sat, coffee in one hand, cigarette in the other, in the lookout glass of an inspection saloon—watching the world unfurl behind a racing train. The view was not a postcard, but a restless theatre: fields and dust, surging crowds and silent stretches, laughter, struggle, and stillness, all in one reel of light and shadow. I sat there bewitched, bewildered, almost chastened. What was I doing, gulping down this living poetry with my eyes… and doing nothing about it? Art, after all, must imitate life—and here l...

  In November 2023, Indian Railways (IR) boldly proclaimed itself the “most safe and affordable mode of transport” and pledged to eliminate passenger waitlists by 2027. Just a month later, it announced an even more ambitious plan: a ₹1 lakh crore investment to procure 7,000–8,000 new train sets over the next 15 years, part of a broader ₹4.2 lakh crore infrastructure overhaul. This included multi-tracking seven high-density corridors, completing the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs), and adding 5,500–6,000 km of new tracks in FY25.   IR also projected a surge in annual passenger numbers from 800 crore to 1,000 crore and proposed 3,000 new trains—alongside the massive infrastructure upgrade—to be delivered within just 4 to 5 years. This longer timeline, endorsed as the Prime Minister’s guarantee, effectively contradicted the original 2027 deadline, suggesting that the earlier figure may have been floated without serious deliberation.   Yet, apar...

  It took unflinching resolve of a team at Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perambur, Chennai, to design and build Train 18 in just 18 months—India’s first modern semi-high-speed train. Flagged off in early 2019 as the Vande Bharat Express, it became a symbol of national pride and the PM’s pet project.  But after deploying nearly a 100 rakes—all in seater versions—the novelty has worn thin. I had long held that after approximately 50/60 daytime services, only a Sleeper version could carry the mission forward. But that version, which should have been reality by end 2019, has been repeatedly “launched” since March 2024; it, however, is still playing hide-and-sleeper with commercial service . Why? Largely because quality issues in the BEML-built prototype have caused ICF to raise red flags. Meanwhile, nearly 25 Vande Bharat seater services are running half-empty with their average speeds falling. Yet the sleeper train slumbers on—metaphorically and literally. Disheartened, I once ag...