An Indecisive Indian

  There are two distinct species of people—albeit at opposite ends of the opinionated spectrum—who are my perennial bêtes noires, my fate-bound tormentors in the grand circus of public discourse. On one side are the unwavering zealots, those impervious to all evidence, chanting the mantra of Vishwaguru! (Teacher to the world), while reality smoulders quietly in the background, like embers that have not erupted into full flames but are still destructive, hiding an ignored quagmire while the grand illusion persists. For them, Indian Railways (IR) is racing ahead at full throttle—never mind the frequent derailments, both literal and metaphorical. No matter that while eloquence and hype swirl abundantly in the air, action and completion remain as rare as a punctual sarkari (governmental) file. Then there is the other lot, equally insufferable, who believe that IR is an irredeemable mess, a grand monument to incompetence, incapable of so much as tightening a loose nut without divine int...

Dr. Sudhanshu Mani, Written March 25, updated Oct. 26   A Safety Record Worth Acknowledging The last major accident on Indian Railways (IR) was the Chhattisgarh train collision, which occurred on November 4, 2025, nearly a year ago. The accident resulted in the deaths of 11 passengers, including the loco pilot, and injuries to 20 passengers. A quick look shows that there have been fewer than 10 fatalities in rail accidents since then, excluding cases of people being run over or falling from trains. I am saying this without minutely studying the data, but I certainly do not remember any period with such a low number of fatalities in railway accidents in a year. This is a performance the Railway Ministry should be proclaiming all over the media, including the reel regime of today, instead of going overboard about incomplete projects, projected possibilities and various vanity accomplishments. It is a record one can be genuinely proud of. This is not a claim that all risks have been e...