The Signal’s Red

Thursday,4 p.m.

The train is some hours away,so Agrawala has time to show us a “trophy”. It’s a plaque,really,which proclaims Tatanagar Station as the ‘best maintained station of South Eastern Railway Division for the year 2009-2010’. Outside his office,all the six platforms of the station are bustling with the afternoon crowd.

“Around forty to fifty thousand people pass through this station every day. The traffic has almost doubled in the last 20 years,” says Agrawala. Clearly,the station master is flush with success. And with good reason. Tatanagar is located on the Howrah-Mumbai line of the Indian Railways and is the second busiest station of South Eastern Railway after Howrah. Tatanagar handles around 140 trains—both goods and passenger—every day,says Agrawala.

When we tell him we plan to spend the night at the station with the stranded passengers of Purushottam Express,Agrawala smiles. “You are welcome to do that but the train is about half-an-hour late,so you will have to wait,” he says. ‘Wait’ is the word of the evening and,as we were to discover later,would hang over the station for the rest of the night,stretching endlessly.

8 p.m.

An ominous silence descends on platform number four. The electronic display boards start flashing ‘Pursuhottam Express’. The tea-stall owner fiddles with an empty paper cup. Isn’t he bracing for a night of roaring business? Surely,there will be an army of bored-therefore-hungry passengers to cater to? “Business isn’t that great. Most people bring their own food,” says Ram Kumar Mishra,who has manned the stall here for about two years.

At the tail end of the platform,struggling with a backpack and a stroller,is Subhankar Sarkar,a resident of Jamshedpur who is heading for Bhubaneshwar. “I was not aware of this,” he says accusingly. “When I bought my tickets,I was not told about the night halt. Now I have to cancel my meetings in Bhubaneshwar. How come they don’t inform us beforehand,” asks the Larsen & Toubro employee before walking out of the station in a huff,his stroller lumbering along noisily. Information,it seems,is one of the many things that slip through the gaping cracks of the Indian Railways’ system.

9.30 p.m.

The public announcement system crackles to life: “Train No. 2802,Purushottam Express,from New Delhi to Puri,will arrive on platform number 4 shortly”. A piercing horn and the train pulls in; it’s an hour late. “That’s a boon in disguise for the passengers,” says the tea-stall owner.

The dust-covered,rain-splattered engine,an overwhelming presence,comes to a halt. J Appa Rao,the driver of the train (“the correct term”,he says,“is loco-pilot”) climbs down from the engine and patiently addresses a group of confused passengers. “We will have to stay here tonight…No,I have nothing to do with the decision…The train will leave early morning tomorrow…Yes,I know Kharagpur is only an hour-and-a-half away,but we still can’t move tonight,” he says patiently.

“I don’t really blame these passengers. Obviously,they are angry. But what can we do? It’s all up to the government. They (the Maoists) are hell bent on getting something. They are like naughty children. How does one handle naughty children? You either whip them or give them what they want,” says Rao. He has driven trains for the last 37 years. “In the last few years,these kind of activities have shot up. One of my friends,who was driving the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express,which was hijacked last October,had a narrow escape. We can only pray that nothing untoward happens,” he says.

But Krishna Kumar,who is travelling to Cuttack from New Delhi,is in a hurry. “I would rather travel at night through these areas than be stranded. It’s because the government doesn’t do its job properly that we have to live under the threat of Naxal attacks,” he says.

Midnight

Anger changes into resignation. By midnight,the platform is full of life,tentative bonds are forged and tiffin boxes and ‘packet meals’ get unpacked. The railway police force walk around,batons in hand and rifles slung over their shoulders. They make small talk with the passengers,pinch the cheeks of children,share jokes with the men.

The stall-owners are ignored,though. “There is no proper food at the station. Are we expected to survive on tea and biscuits,” asks Ram Kishen,who is travelling with his wife and three children to Cuttack. A bunch of IIT Kharagpur students,returning to their institute after a holiday,go out of the station for a “proper meal”.

Friday,2 a.m.

As the night progresses,the bonds grow stronger. Prashant Panigrahi,a businessman from Behrampore; Bishnukumar Gupta,a sari-shop owner from Kanpur; and Amulya Jena,a student from Bhubaneshwar,all travelling in S-3 compartment,discover their common passion for card games. “Don’t take a picture of me playing cards,please. My mother will not be pleased,” says Jena,turning away from the camera.

But the compartments,joined together in a seemingly endless line,divide just as much. People in the general compartment stick to themselves as do those in the sleeper and AC classes. “We are having a hard time in the AC compartments,so I can well understand what the situation must be in the general ones. But I don’t want people walking into our compartments,” says Rohit Yadav,a student from Delhi in the first-class compartment,pointing to a “sleeper class passenger” who seems content walking from one AC compartment to the other,breathing in the stale air.

4 a.m.

As a salmon pink dawn spreads across the Jamshedpur sky,it’s time to pack up at Tatanagar. Men sprawled on benches are nudged awake,bottles are refilled with cold water from dispensers and 12 Railway Protection Force personnel take their place outside each compartment. A patrol train engine leaves the station half-an-hour before the Purushottam Express leaves the station to ensure the line is clear for the train.

5 a.m.

Soon,it’s time to leave. Driver J Appa Rao,who comes out of the Railway Staff Rest Room,cuts a smart figure in the early morning light as he strides across the platform in confident,assured steps. He is the saviour,the man with all the answers. “Shall we leave now?” asks a passenger. “Yes,it’s time to go,” says Appa Rao.