New BBC programmes on India Trains...

[caravanman]

Hi,

Not sure if the BBC is available on the internet overseas? A great feast for me of new Indian Train programmes on BBC tv next week... All about the worlds busiest railways.

I will attach a link in the hope that might be viewable overseas :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02xtt6j/clips

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5m79Sm4dkNtrJsk9dX9HqhT/my-super-dense-crush-load-commute

Cheers,

Ed

 

[Texan Eagle]

While I am glad they are making more programmes on Indian rail, I cannot help but be annoyed at the stereotypical BBC approach of showing everything in India as poor/dirty/crowded. Yes, Mumbai's suburban railway is crowded, big deal, so is NY subway. That does not mean that is the only thing Indian Railway offers.

Unfortunately BBC does not like people across the pond here in the US watching their online videos, so I will have to wait until I can find a pirated version of it somewhere.

 

[caravanman]

Sometimes these programmes soon appear on you tube, unofficially of course...

I would tend to agree with you about bias up to a point, but I get the impression these BBC train programmes are made with love, not to ridicule...

A salute to folk making the best of the daily commute.

There was a rather obnoxious (to me) BBC programme on recently about the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, and the stinking rich guests, so they do show more than one aspect of Mumbai.

I am looking forward to the first one tonight, so will report back once I have seen it.

Ed.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

While I am glad they are making more programmes on Indian rail, I cannot help but be annoyed at the stereotypical BBC approach of showing everything in India as poor/dirty/crowded. Yes, Mumbai's suburban railway is crowded, big deal, so is NY subway. That does not mean that is the only thing Indian Railway offers. Unfortunately BBC does not like people across the pond here in the US watching their online videos, so I will have to wait until I can find a pirated version of it somewhere.

I actually think that a NYC subway would make for a fairly accurate representation of US passenger rail as a whole. It's slow, dirty, crowded, and mainly transports the hoi polloi rather than the noble gentry. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding your position but I wouldn't see any point in trying to portray US passenger rail as fast, clean, or modern when the vast majority is anything but. So why give India trains a whitewash treatment that misrepresents the bulk of potential experiences? Better to focus on cleaning and modernizing what's actually there rather than pretending it doesn't exist.

 

[jis]

Speaking of BBC productions involving Indian Railways, I thought the India's Frontier Railways series was very well done. It would have been even more interesting if they had done a fourth part covering the Munabao - Kokhropar crossing at Zero Point. Anyway, I like the Part 1 on Maitree Express the best of the three, maybe partly due to my ethnic association too. The Samjhauta Express part I thought had too little of train and railroading stuff in it.

 

[Texan Eagle]

So why give India trains a whitewash treatment that misrepresents the bulk of potential experiences? Better to focus on cleaning and modernizing what's actually there rather than pretending it doesn't exist.

No, I am not saying whitewash anything. However, Mumbai suburban system is NOT representative of Indian Railways. It is an urban commuter system and like any megapolis, it will be crowded and not greatly comfortable. It's purpose is to take a large number of humans from point A to point B, that's it. Beyond that, Indian Railways operates 65,000 km of rail network with trains of varying speeds, comfort levels, offering up to 9 different classes of accommodation and people of all strata use it. I am not saying BBC should cover ALL of that, just that a program on Indian trains that advertises "look so crowded oh my God I am dying!" screams STEREOTYPE MUCH to me.

 

[caravanman]

Having watched the programme, I can see that quite a lot was made of the "super dense crush load factor"... The narrative, I felt, was about the railways achievements in managing to move so many people each day... Descriptions were used like "slick operation", "disciplined operation" and a long tour of the sophisticated high tech main control room were shown. Managing to get a 12 coach train into the platform, unloaded, loaded, and departing again in under 4 minutes is pretty impressive!

I liked the "dhabba wallas" who are the opposite of restaurant delivery, they pick up home cooked food at your home and deliver to your office each day, using the local trains, thousands of meals.

Part of an Indian "season" of programmes, tonight's one is more about the long distance Indian trains.

Cheers,

Ed.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Sounds pretty good Eddie! Hopefully we here in the Colonies will be able to see them someday???