Track me if you can

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is the envy of every young boy in the country. All they can manage are toy train sets, no matter how elaborate, but Laluji has an entire working railway system, one of the largest in the world, to play around with.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is the envy of every young boy in the country. All they can manage are toy train sets, no matter how elaborate, but Laluji has an entire working railway system, one of the largest in the world, to play around with. Last week we read about the fun he had when he travelled in the engine of a train. Of course, this was all work. After all, a minister has to familiarise himself with all the aspects of the workings of his ministry.

HT Image

But to show off that, unlike us, he also had real people running his train set, he reportedly suspended two officials for a three-hour delay of the minister’s train (MR Special). After all if you cannot shift things around in your own train set, what’s the use of having one? Unfortunately, sometimes, like Pinocchio, toys take on a real life, and in this case it happened to be the portion of the train set that runs through Bihar where the railway infrastructure is just not what it used to be. An engine broke down, resulting in the all-important tracks in Sonepur division being blocked. Lalu, of course, has been having fun with the Railways since he took charge. It began with the kulhads and lassi for the city-slickers, and lots and lots of new trains to forgettable destinations. There was, then, the unforgettable ‘Village on Wheels’ — a project of datuns (neem twigs) and rustic living — which it is hoped retains its place as the year’s worst dream.

But then the real world kept intruding, there have been accidents galore and crime on the train system has reached epidemic proportions. Till now our Head Engine Driver has yet to come up with answers. Meanwhile, the game goes on, full steam ahead.