This is a highly local post, but why must we always be global? The Chennai Metro was inaugurated yesterday, with minimal fanfare via video-conferencing, by Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalitha, and with great enthusiasm by Tamil Nadu's (or more accurately) Chennai's general public. The first line from Alanthur to Koyambedu was crammed with everyone from children to housewives to office-goers to policemen, all in great spirits and busy clicking selfies, to mark the occasion. The first metro was driven by a young lady, A. Preethi, who changed jobs to fulfil her dream of becoming a loco driver, and whose mother burst into tears at the happiness of the occasion.
Here you see the train, festooned with jasmine, as befits a smartly dressed lady from our city, and here you see where she is dressed up to go. Alas, it's nowhere near us as yet. We will have to make do with the MRTS (that is the mustard line in the map), which was equally thrilling when it came, and still causes squeals of excitement when it whizzes past our balcony, albeit in the distance. Finally, fast cars, aeroplanes, rockets and the Mangalyaan not withstanding, there is nothing like a train!
This blog post by Neelima Gupte and Sumathi Rao.
This blog post by Neelima Gupte and Sumathi Rao.
