Skip to main content

Great Railway Journeys of the World

 Oh what does a covidised homebody to do?  Esp mua that does not partake in the omnipresent social activity of FB or IG or its ilk.

Read or research or watch the telly of course.  

In doing the aforementioned research on random things in the whole wide world using what else but the www I stumbled on a documentary produced by the BBC.  

That docu series happened to be scratching me where it itches.  A passion of mine - perhaps inculcated in me by my late father who was a train buff and loved timetables - train travel.

Thanks to a silicon valley invention called Youtube I can now board a whole bunch of train journeys without leaving my bed.

They are broadcast under the larger brand titled 'Great Railway Journeys' but are localized versions based on which part of the world the protagonist on the show is traveling.

I have so far watched a few called - 

BBC's Great Canadian Railway Journey

Great British Railway Journeys 
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Great Indian Railway Journeys

The host or narrator in this case is a retired British MP called Michael Portillo.  You would not be wrong to typecast him and think he was a homosexual based on his manners and clothing style but it turns out it is all done to add some flamboyance to the sometimes soporific train journey.



Also he stands out in a crowded street shot in say India.  LOL.  Using a early 19th century handbook titled Bradshaw's (the author and creator of many railway timetables of the era) he points out the history of a place and how Bradshaw - proxy for any Briton - might have viewed the world a 100 years ago.

This guide is the equivalent of the tripadvisor website a century ago but with a bias towards what English tourists might have wanted in their travels.

I was introduced to many an unknown historic trivia or gem of a natural wonder during the course of Michael's travels. 

On the India journeys one of the memorable legs takes him from Lucknow to Kolkata.
A curious observation is of the only legal Opium factory run by the Govt of India.  Turns out to be the largest legal opium manufacturer in the world.

Another is of the Chittaranjan locomotive factory on outskirts of West Bengal and finally the largest railway platform in India at Kolkata.

This is also where he hops in to a canary yellow Ambassador taxi - a quintessential travel appliance with a good horn but points out that the British gearhead would recognize it as a Morris Oxford from yesteryear (circa 1950s).

I am adding this route to my bucket list.

The video also highlights what he said in an interview about his role - travel makes you explore the opposite of who you are in your workaday life.  It lets you loose and nourishes.
I could not agree more.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
2 comments
Read more

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...
2 comments
Read more

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...
2 comments
Read more