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Glimpses of Indian history

Archana Masih and Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Chapra, Bihar

Two hours after the Porbundar-Lekhpani-New Delhi Express reached Chapra railway station in north Bihar, 10,000-odd people had queued up to catch a glimpse of Indian history.

Commemorating the 50^th year of Indian Independence, the 10-coach train has displays that hark back to events in Indian history, beginning with the arrival of the East India Company and going on to provide tidbits of importance from modern India.

Having halted at 85 stations after beginning its journey at Porbundar railway station on August 16, the train aims to awaken the Indian masses to the country's achievements in the last 50 years.

"The response to the train has been tremendous. More than 25,000 people have visited the train at each halt. In places like Gandhidam and Rajkot there were more than 150,000 people," said Anil Kumar Prasad, the exhibition's co-ordinator.

However Porbandar-Lekhpani-New Delhi express is not the only train travelling across the country with such an exhibition; there is also the Kanyaumari-Jammu Tawi Express running in a north-south direction.

The two trains are going to reach New Delhi railway station on the same day -- January 26, 1998. Both trains were flagged off by Union Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on August 16 and 17 respectively. The train is expected to be received by Prime Minister I K Gujral on Republic Day.

"The idea was initiated by Gujral," said Divisional Railway Manager, Varanasi sector, Trilok Nath Parthi. "We've got wonderful response."

The platform where the train halted was white-washed and cleaned, two months having gone into its preparation. A fire engine and a first aid centre were also set up.

Comprising a total of 16 coaches, 10 coaches have been kept for public display, while the remaining six are used by railway officials and for housing the power generator.

The coaches are named after the rivers of India and the exhibits include recordings of speeches by Mahatma Gandhi, among others.

"It's good to hear Mahatma Gandhi's voice. I heard it for the first time today," said Santosh Kumar, a 16-year-old college student.

The exhibition also contains displays from different ministries though many of the exhibits come from the national archives.

But the train's two computers have developed snags. "Our multimedia kit has become inoperational," complained S K Bhattacharya of the Electronics Trade and Technology Development Corporation, which set up the machines. But images can still be seen, sufficient to keep the queue moving slowly before them.

"Is this relay coming from Chapra," asked one confused rural visitor, mistaking the monitors for a television screen. Precisely the kind of ignorance they want to dispel, Bhattacharya said.

Many visitors, most of them school and college students, said they found the exhibition interesting and beneficial. And more schools and colleges have been informed.

The National Service Scheme team from the local Jay Prakash University brought over 150 packets of food for the train officials.

Meanwhile, the locals found some fault with the show. There was only one picture of Dr Rajendra Prasad, India's first president and the state's leading nationalist leader, in the exhibition. They also grumbled about the lack of representation of other events and people from Bihar, the railway minister's home state.

The visitors also felt the halt of three hours -- between 9 am and 6 pm -- was too short. There wasn't anyone to explain the text attached to the illiterate visitors and little time anyway to read the details. The train was also not halting at smaller centres, said retired professor Ramashiya Singh.

There was even a minor incident at Motihari railway station in Champaran, where the crowd, many of whom unable to see the exhibition, turned unruly when the train was about to depart at the scheduled time. "The police had to control the crowds," said Sanjay Kumar Gupta, section engineer in charge of the maintenance of the train. To avoid similar incidents, the Railway Police Force has been deployed at Chapra station.

In spite of these precautions, many pictures were scribbled over and bold signatures ran across the laminated photo copies of the songs of the Azad Hind Fauj and lines like "Gulshan, I love you" scribbled over the map of India.

Not pleasant perhaps, but the train must go on...

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