There’ve been much positive toots about what Indian Railways means to India, and rightly so. The 171-year-old behemoth with wheels does its main job – moving people and freight – rather well. But IR, it seems, is feeling unloved these days, with all that news about fancy new airports springing up in back-of-beyond places, and all those folks clambering up to take a flight. Earlier this week, Southern Railway tried to show off its young and hip side, and sprinkled some stardust on its newest showpiece, Vande Bharat Express. It shared a video on social media that had 12 young femmes belting out songs on their journey from Chennai to Mysuru. The caption for the rolling antakshari: ‘Symphony of the joy’ (sic). It wasn’t so for many – flouting IR rules that say passengers are prohibited from making loud sounds in trains.
In India, public transport often becomes a personal stage for many. Who can forget antakshari battles and shared karaoke kravings on the Rajdhani – which, in far too many cases, became an accident zone with not off-rail, but off-key disasters? Then, there’s listening to bhajans and filmi gaane on phones on the metro and even on flights sans earphones. Many people diss talent shows as scripted ‘political’ acts. While this can be debated, can we all agree that it’s plain rude to hijack public space and make it a raucous public one?
