KOLKATA: The Indian Railways, which covers a variety of landscapes and unites people of different cultures, has had a pleasant association with the great poet and noble laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, throughout his life.
His first train journey at the age of 11 years and 9 months was from Howrah to Bolpur on a half-ticket on February 14, 1873, and his last journey was from Bolpur to Howrah, on July 25 1941 just two weeks before his death.
Interestingly, Rabindranath's family also had a close relationship with the railways in India. His grandfather, Prince Dwarkanath Tagore, owned several collieries near Raniganj and was so impressed by the railways in England that he wanted to build a railway line to his collieries. He set up the Great Western Bengal Railway Company, but his scheme was rejected by the Court of Directors of the East India Company.
During Rabindranath's last journey on the railway, the then Chief Operating Superintendent of EIR, Nibaran Chandra Ghosh, provided his salon EIR 2377 for the poet and accompanied him from Bolpur to Howrah. The saloon has been refurbished and is now preserved in "Chirantani" near the Bolpur station building in the same condition.
The Eastern Railway family still remembers Rabindranath's last journey on the railway in the wake of his birth anniversary. His journey is deeply embedded in the psyche of the railway fraternity, and they continue to honor his memory. As Tagore wrote, "At the end of the stony path, in the country of virgin solitude, my friend is sitting all alone. Deceive him not. Wake, oh awaken!"
