A request to the President
Evening of Monday July 17th brought a pleasant surprise.
As usual, I was traveling in a slow train from Dadar to Goregaon. Standing in the door of the first class compartment. The city was barely rising from the trauma of 7/11. The train was still chugging into the Mahim station, and my weary eyes noticed something very soothing….. A reformed Mahim station!
And at once I was very happy. Spanking clean platforms. Freshly painted walls. Brand new neon signs to guide passengers. Refurbished ticket booking office. Working fans for passengers in the queue.
No paan stains. No beggars around. No out of order fans, clocks & indicators. No cobwebs on the ticket booking windows.
Everything was just so perfect. The entire station was so very nicely illuminated. I felt nice... I felt really really nice.
Mahim was one of the worst hit stations because of bomb blasts. I myself had seen broken roof of its platforms and the other stains of the disaster at the station. And this look of Mahim was certainly a welcome change. I kind of liked the urgency with which Railway Administration has got into action to erase those unfortunate memories of what had happened just a few days ago.
Thoughts were running, So was the train. And my mind was getting ready to see similar face-lifts at other stations as well. The train entered Santacruz. I was eager to see the station with makeover. However, the scene looked familiar. As it was for years. May be the blasts didn’t do much damage to the station.
Jogeshwari! Yes, that is the suburb where the blasts occurred right at the station. ‘I’m sure that station would have got the facelift’, my mind was telling me. Alas, that wasn’t the case. I was wondering why only Mahim has been singled out for the special treatment. Why not other stations that were equally hit.
I reached home, freshened myself up. But this question was still coming back to me as I unfolded the newspaper. Got it!
‘President visiting Mahim station on Tuesday evening’.
The entire story got unfolded in a moment’s time.
Mr President, for sake of Mumbaikars, please travel on Churchgate – Virar slow train just once and ensure that you get down on all the stations. You’ll be doing a lot good to the city!
As usual, I was traveling in a slow train from Dadar to Goregaon. Standing in the door of the first class compartment. The city was barely rising from the trauma of 7/11. The train was still chugging into the Mahim station, and my weary eyes noticed something very soothing….. A reformed Mahim station!
And at once I was very happy. Spanking clean platforms. Freshly painted walls. Brand new neon signs to guide passengers. Refurbished ticket booking office. Working fans for passengers in the queue.
No paan stains. No beggars around. No out of order fans, clocks & indicators. No cobwebs on the ticket booking windows.
Everything was just so perfect. The entire station was so very nicely illuminated. I felt nice... I felt really really nice.
Mahim was one of the worst hit stations because of bomb blasts. I myself had seen broken roof of its platforms and the other stains of the disaster at the station. And this look of Mahim was certainly a welcome change. I kind of liked the urgency with which Railway Administration has got into action to erase those unfortunate memories of what had happened just a few days ago.
Thoughts were running, So was the train. And my mind was getting ready to see similar face-lifts at other stations as well. The train entered Santacruz. I was eager to see the station with makeover. However, the scene looked familiar. As it was for years. May be the blasts didn’t do much damage to the station.
Jogeshwari! Yes, that is the suburb where the blasts occurred right at the station. ‘I’m sure that station would have got the facelift’, my mind was telling me. Alas, that wasn’t the case. I was wondering why only Mahim has been singled out for the special treatment. Why not other stations that were equally hit.
I reached home, freshened myself up. But this question was still coming back to me as I unfolded the newspaper. Got it!
‘President visiting Mahim station on Tuesday evening’.
The entire story got unfolded in a moment’s time.
Mr President, for sake of Mumbaikars, please travel on Churchgate – Virar slow train just once and ensure that you get down on all the stations. You’ll be doing a lot good to the city!
posted by Narendra Ganpule @ 10:03 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home