THE MELANCHOLIC WHEELS

 



    
    In a heart-aching accident of the 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel express on the 2nd June, 2023 at 6:50 PM near Bahananga Bazar station in Odissa, not only were several lives lost, several people wounded but a trust and an ocean of memories were hurt. I express my heartfelt condolence to the deceased and prayers for the fast recovery of the wounded.

For ages I have run
Across the nation wide,
Connecting the Bay waves
With the peninsular tides.
Amalgaming cultures
Fostering hopes,
Tying East and South
With the railway ropes.
Superfast, by birth
Supercool, by looks,
I had been the inspiration
Of my fellow rooks.
Be it Howrah or Shalimar
Or the frontiers of Chennai,
I was the rail ruler
In the passenger's mind.
I was the trust
For the patients to Vellore,
A medical bridge 
For the needy crores.
I was the memory
Of the numerous students,
A witness of college stories
From IIT to SRM.
I was the job source
Of people of Bengal,
Their cheapest means to come home
And the vehicle to reach work.
But on one unlucky day
In the fading light of dusk,
A dark history awaited
To defame my task.
As I left Balasore
And went some miles far,
I met with an accident
At Bahanaga Bazar.
May be the points machine
On whom our fates depend,
Was a little careless
It forgot to reframe.
Leading me to the loop line
Where a goods train was at pause,
But my speed was too high
To put a brake on the cause.
My Engine crushed on the brake-van
And my body lost the track,
The 127 kmph 
Turned to 0 with a crash.
The sudden maneuver 
Had taken such a toll,
12 of my bogies fell
And a few of them rolled.
And hit a passing train
Bangalore - Howrah superfast,
And derailed two of its bogies
In the colliding thirst.
Lying along the tracks
Was my corpse of disdain,
With wounded passengers
Trapped inside the train.
Rescue teams rushed to spot
To provide assistance,
So shocked was humanity 
At such an incidence.
With gradually darkening skies
And extinguishing lamps,
A miserable trail was laid
In the relief camps.
Families departed
From their loved ones,
Drowned the hope of homecoming
That had sailed for months.
Perhaps after Kalinga war
The soils of this land,
Had experienced such horrible 
Blood stains on sand.
The promise of a father
To bring toys and candies,
The hopes of a patient
To get treated from disease.
The dreams of a student
To study and get placed,
Faded like smoke
Fainted, without trace.
Accidents had happened 
Numerous time ago,
But none had ever dreamed
To see their epitome,
The Rajdhani of the South East
The reliance of the rails,
The majesty of the east-coast
Bowing down to fate.
Even LHBs could shield
The sword of death,
Speed was my nature
Just the tracks had betrayed.
Although the railways
Would be cautious henceforth,
But what were lost were of
Un-measurable worth.
Perhaps time will wash away
The scars of the evenings,
But I can't ever forget
Those melancholic wheels.

-- Lucifer 






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