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Train Stories - Tribute to my father Late Gopalakrishna - Part 1/n

Only those who have grown in a Indian Railway family will understand the deep bonds that the organisation forges with not just the employee but the whole family.  While I am not privy to what the life is like now, till not very long ago what I said held true.

The Indian Railways is the lifeblood of travel in India integrating the country like no other,  one of the largest networks in the world and if I am not mistaken carries the maximum passengers in a day which is unmatched by any country or transport system globally.

It is also one of the few organisations in the country where the top man, the Chairman of the Railway Board rises from the bottom of the food chain with no lateral entries. Thus even the  Chairman would have been there, done that  getting his hands down and dirty and would know the intricate working and systems so well that rarely if anybody can “bullshit” to him and get away.

For long and probably even now when me and others like me talk of the railways we never refer to it in the third person. It is usually as “WE in the railways, WE did this in the railways” and so on making it sound that we worked in the organisation whereas it was either or both of our parents who did so. I still remember in my post graduate class we students were chatting around when one of the girls said “in the railways, you know WE......” and my friend interrupted her and asked if her father worked in the railways. Surprised she asked how he had guessed. So he pointed to me and said that only the children of the railways spoke that language.

In short my fascination and love of  Railways, Trains has never  ceased and even today it is one of the most enjoyable rides that I have.

Over the next  few blogs I wish to share my memories, anecdotes and pictures as a tribute to my father.  My late father Sri SR Gopalakrishna retired as a  Addln Chief Engineer in the railways working in the civil engineering department way back in 1988. He was a wonderful writer and if he were alive today I am sure that he could have written a popular blog, far better than me.  He also was an ardent photographer and had a huge storehouse of pictures taken with primitive cameras and while over time many have been lost I share here whatever I have with notes on whatever I remember. Thankfully his literary & photographic  talent is now with our daughter.

The thoughts are in no particular order but each of them are just a tribute to my father and in his memory.

TRIVANDRUM KANYAKUMARI PROJECT INAGURATION 1972 - 1973

Mrs. Indira Gandhi the then Prime Minister of India flew down to Kanyakumari to inaugurate the project construction. As usual my father captured some moments.


The field where the function was held


The helicopters that ferried Mrs Indira Gandhi to the site

My father with his staff at some nearby location

The crowd at the function

Mr TA Pai the Railway Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi PM

Mr. TA Pai, Mrs Indira Gandhi and Mr. Karunanidhi

Mrs Indira Gandhi addressing the audience


Another shot of Mrs. Indira Gandhi speaking

View of the crowd

The inauguration podium

Mr TA Pai speaking to the audience

The crowd at a near by railway station

My father enjoying a joke with his team. The Gent in glasses smiling is Mr. Unnithan his assistant

The traditional start of ground breaking ceremony by my father

Some local VIP also doing the ground breaking work

The Railway team that did the final location survey for the Trivandrum Kanyakumari Railway line

The link to the next part of this blog is here




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