SUMMER IS HERE WITH HER searing touch and school holidays. My school breaks would see my brothers and I taking the Cochin Express from Madras to Kochi; the last leg to Kottayam would be by road.
After dinner, and with Katpadi Junction behind us, we would clamber into our berths. I would lie there tense, fighting sleep—thanks to two existential questions raised by Jacob ‘Balu’ Cherian, my cousin. 1) Are you sure that the loco pilot will stay awake through the night? There are so many hills and curves between here and home. 2) It takes one driver to keep a four-wheeled car on the road. A train has 100+ wheels. How can just one man keep them steady on the tracks? Somewhere closer to Salem, perhaps, sleep would trump anxiety, and I would drift off. Thank you, Balu, for those nervous nights.
The Cochin Express is the first or among the first broad-gauge trains to transition from steam to diesel. It was big news when Union Railways Minister Panampilly Govinda Menon flagged off the Cochin Express hauled by a WDM-1 engine, India’s first diesel loco, at Cochin Harbour Terminus. And, a short distance from my office is Diesel Loco Shed, Ernakulam, said to be India’s southernmost locomotive shed.
The trains of yore used to carry a whiff of magic, I feel, through their names. Kalka Mail, Howrah Mail, Grand Trunk Express, Deccan Queen, Pearl City Express, Toofan Express…. But with the advent of the Rajdhanis and the Shatabdis, trains to multiple destinations carried the same name and took away some of the mystique.
So, when Special Correspondent Anjuly Mathai suggested a cover to mark the 75th anniversary of the nationalisation of Indian Railways, all the memories came rushing back to me. In addition to writing the cover article, Anjuly interviewed Sudhanshu Mani, who led the team that designed and built the Vande Bharat Express.
Then there are guest columns: K.V. Subramanian on railway food, Arup K. Chatterjee on railways in pop culture and Manoj Yadava—former DG of the Railway Protection Force—on the bullet train project, and John Kurien shares a railway traveller’s memories.
We continue our coverage of the Middle East, with the UAE’s Ambassador, Abdulnasser Alshaali, speaking to Chief of Bureau (Delhi), Namrata Biji Ahuja. Senior Assistant Editor Sanjib Baruah writes about everyday challenges in the Middle East, and in @leisure, Senior Correspondent Shubhangi Shah offers her insight into how Iranian cinema thrives amid censorship.
In sports, New Media Coordinator Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl looks at Jammu and Kashmir bowling sensation Aquib Nabi who is in his debut season of the Indian Premier League.
We bring you the heat of the assembly polls from Puducherry, Assam and Kerala. Chief of Bureau (Chennai) Lakshmi Subramanian, the Malayala Manorama’s Special Correspondent Javed Parvesh and Senior Correspondent Nirmal Jovial were our people on the ground.
Now that assembly polls are upon us, I am reminded of Balu’s father, former MLA P.C. Cherian. His last stand was against a young Oommen Chandy, who would later become chief minister.
If there were a Test series in Chepauk, Cherian would drive from Kottayam straight to the stadium.At times, he would come to the Madras Christian College School, and take us to the match.
Once, when he was contesting from Puthupally, he did not turn up for a scheduled rally. There was a match in Chepauk, and he had left to watch it! Old habits die hard.