National Geographic: The Great Indian Railway Page #4

---

And we'll lose ever so slightly

a part of our past

something on which the railways

all over the world

have survived for the last hundred

plus years

With that a lot of our soul will be gone

Everyday

more and more black beauties are being

pulled from the working lines

The iron beasts are now easy prey

to scavengers

who will take even their last bits of

precious coal

The once busy sheds are becoming

graveyards

For loco foreman Mr. Arora

returning is like visiting old friends

You see

this is a tragic part on my life

I was born and brought up

with this steam locomotives

Now I feel as if I am left all alone

and I am standing like a helpless

man can do

but this is the demand from my nation

I feel as if a most loving member

of my family

is being cut into pieces in my presence

an old man, who is looking after

the children

and he is standing

and he cannot do anything

for his children at this dying stage

Feel so bad

Really I feel like weeping

I become helpless creature but

as I've told you, a day one has to die

Similarly, they have also to vanish

one day or the other

All across India

steam sheds have turned

into auction houses

The locomotives await the highest bidder

They are the businessmen

who have waited for the sheds to close

before making their move

They buy the engines which are

to them, worth only their weight

in scrap metal

Most of these men of steam will

choose to stay with the railway

Some will have to be retrained

and others may have to relocate far

from their homes

But for all a way of life is over

There will be one survivor of steam

and by government ruling

it will remain

It is the Darjeeling-Haimalayan toy train

the oldest mountain railway in India

She is the symbol of the railway

and evokes the emotional

and spiritual ties

which the country has for its trains

The men who run her stand for the many

who have devoted themselves to keeping

the lifeline going

And for all those whose lives it touches

this will always be the great

Indian railway

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes