[heydj]

I shared this news among various WhatsApp groups and to my surprise few of them blamed Indian population for vandalism - saying its justified as people have never seen this before.

I must say in every forum one always ends up finding Devils Advocate!

I personally feel cameras should be put everywhere and we the Indians should be shamed publicly for our non-civic actions. A news channel probably to show such incidents 24/7.

[Rodie09]

The recent act of vandalism seen in case of Tejas express definitely calls for criticism how we Indians treat public property and have no sense of national pride left except for the displaying the same in case of useless political issues.

Having said that, providing in train entertainment system with LCD screens was a bad idea to start with. It would have been great and path-breaking, if implemented 5-7 years back. In today's day and age who needs these screens for entertainment? Mr. Prabhu should have realized this idea was well beyond its expiry date.

Recently, many US airlines have initiated plans to get rid of in flight systems and switch to BYOD (bring your own device) facility. All you need to provide is free wifi which doesn't face such threat of vandalism.

The money thus saved could have been used to improve the basics.

[silversteed]

At a time when there are over 100,000 posts remaining vacant in Railway Safety related departments, and when there are frequent incidents affecting safety, splurging on luxury trains looks like misplaced priorities.

Originally Posted by Rodie09

All you need to provide is free wifi which doesn't face such threat of vandalism...

The money thus saved could have been used to improve the basics.

Exactly my thoughts.

At the risk of going OT, and looking less patriotic,
this

Originally Posted by Rodie09

criticism of how we Indians treat public property

and this

Originally Posted by Rodie09

have no sense of national pride left except for displaying the same in case of useless political issues

are absolutely true but sadly quite a few so called educated lot fall for the high pitched media trials and chest-thumping, mistaking them for national pride instead of being loyal to what we do and respecting each other.

[sgiitk]

Shocking, but very much to be expected. We probably deserve trains with wooden benches and nothing better.

[srishiva]

Is the ticket price that low that anyone can travel on this train and hence create such a havoc ?
I dont want to generalize. I feel we deserve the best and hope the culprits are booked and sentenced. There are still areas of land in this country where reservation in trains does not work and people travel for free. Hopefully, Indian Railways will not deny the majority of passengers better travel and amenities.

[Rajesh Rawal]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Is the ticket price that low that anyone can travel on this train and hence create such a havoc ?
.

I don't think the ticket price is the issue its more to do with the indian attitude towards respect for public property(which by the way is built with tax payer money) or something which is not theirs

To draw parallels look at the condition of zoom cars (one may argue the company skips the services to meet demands and ignores the up keep)

But do the renters (who pay a good amount of money ) drive it as their own cars? ( a fraction maybe)

[fordfreak]

We are a bunch known complain a lot if something isn't up to the mark (rightfully so), yet when we get something nice, we do not seem know how to respect/appreciate it in the right manner.

As a kid, I hated travelling by trains or going to stations because of the state of the infrastructure there. However, over the last few years things have changed for the better. There is still a long way to go, but things seem to be moving in the right direction. Incidents like these makes me question if we will ever achieve the goal of having good quality facilities/infrastructure like that seen in countries like the UK, Singapore, Japan etc.?

This attitude of 'Not my property, not my problem' really needs to change in our society. Till such time education isn't improved at the grassroot levels and the meaning of civic sense isn't taught, we will continue to read such stories in the news.

[bigron]

Absolutely shameful. All we do is crib about the fact that how our Government does nothing for its citizens. It is a wonderful idea this train and duly executed. And this is how we say thanks.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by silversteed

At a time when there are over 100,000 posts remaining vacant in Railway Safety related departments, and when there are frequent incidents affecting safety, splurging on luxury trains looks like misplaced priorities.

Absolutely agree with this. But I guess they are under 'pressure' to show that India is shining again.

Railways need to sort out the safety aspects and upgrade the ageing infrastructure first. But alas, these are not so 'visible' changes and get pushed back in the race to 'project' a developed India.

[alphadog]

No doubt that this unfortunate vandalism is deplorable and shameful.
But let us not get carried away and max-out on fatalist-cynicism.

Any change for the better usually has a settling in period where in some people oppose, some vested interests may try to scuttle it and some may resist or cause trouble as a way of habit, culture, up-bringing or what else one may call it.

As someone rightly mentioned Delhi metro might have gone through the same teething issues. We need to look into whether this was a one off incidence or happening regularly.
I guess we cannot stop trying to improve things just because 'things have always been so' and 'us Indians are like this only' line of thinking. Yes, there are plenty of issues and things to change, but its got to start somewhere.
In addition things like paid luggage trolleys, CCTV and stricter law enforcement should happen side by side.

I will put my neck out on the line here by commenting that I give kudos to the railways for at least attempting to bring some much needed change. We should not stop improving just because of one or two incidences. The aim should be to improve and look at solutions to the problem. Peoples mind-set will slowly change. I hope more such initiatives are brought forth an implemented.

Cheerio!

An ever optimistic and hopeful Indian.

[artrocious]

This just makes me relate to the STRICT US Immigration and VISA laws.
I got my first opportunity to visit US just last year and have been there a few times.

The first time I went there I was shocked to see all homes made of wood and plain glass windows (with no steel grills) - Basically if a miscreant wants to get in your home he just needs to break a small pane of glass and jump right in. Now add to that - the homes are spaced well apart and the sound of breaking glass is not a deterrent either. I stayed in my sister-in-laws place where her 2 year old sleeps alone in his room with just a pane of glass between him and the outside world. If someone wants to grab the child - they only need to break a glass pane and felt kind of scary!

Now imagine what would happen if Indian homes and stores just had glass and no grill/steel shutters? I am not telling thefts do not happen in the US but it just shows the kind of collective maturity respect for property that rises from being in a more homogenous population in terms of wealth (unlike India where there is a huge disparity in wealth)

Here is another example - In my last visit a couple of months back in NJ (EWR) aiport there were stores with no humans. You pick what you want, scan it, swipe your card and bag it and get out. Will that work in India?

So, lets say US Immigration laws weren't so strict (and green cards did not have 10 years wait time) - or say there were no H1b caps and so on - What would happen if "anyone who could save up an air-ticket" could land in US and stay there? Would it still be the same? Not trying to pick on anyone - but say your rash driving, bad mouthing, dishonest auto driver could save up 30K for one way US air ticket and end up there?

How would the country get diluted? Glass panes would now have to become steel grills.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that India needs to get more people into the middle class. The income disparity should be narrowed. Uber Rich need to be taxed for ALL their money and the poor-uneducated should be forced to get educated.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by artrocious

This just makes me relate to the STRICT US Immigration and VISA laws.
I got my first opportunity to visit US just last year and have been there a few times.

The first time I went there I was shocked to see all homes made of wood and plain glass windows (with no steel grills) - Basically if a miscreant wants to get in your home he just needs to break a small pane of glass and jump right in. Now add to that - the homes are spaced well apart and the sound of breaking glass is not a deterrent either. I stayed in my sister-in-laws place where her 2 year old sleeps alone in his room with just a pane of glass between him and the outside world. If someone wants to grab the child - they only need to break a glass pane and felt kind of scary!

Now imagine what would happen if Indian homes and stores just had glass and no grill/steel shutters? I am not telling thefts do not happen in the US but it just shows the kind of collective maturity respect for property that rises from being in a more homogenous population in terms of wealth (unlike India where there is a huge disparity in wealth)

Here is another example - In my last visit a couple of months back in NJ (EWR) aiport there were stores with no humans. You pick what you want, scan it, swipe your card and bag it and get out. Will that work in India?

So, lets say US Immigration laws weren't so strict (and green cards did not have 10 years wait time) - or say there were no H1b caps and so on - What would happen if "anyone who could save up an air-ticket" could land in US and stay there? Would it still be the same? Not trying to pick on anyone - but say your rash driving, bad mouthing, dishonest auto driver could save up 30K for one way US air ticket and end up there?

How would the country get diluted? Glass panes would now have to become steel grills.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that India needs to get more people into the middle class. The income disparity should be narrowed. Uber Rich need to be taxed for ALL their money and the poor-uneducated should be forced to get educated.

Friend, if you break into houses in U.S you wont get much. They dont own gold like we do and keep cash like we do. In Australia, most break ins happen in Desi homes due to the gold aspect.

Plus there are not many people unemployed and depend on burglary. Add to that the jail terms that you are handed swiftly !

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by DImPo

.....

The way we drive our vehicles on the wrong side without fear, disobeying a traffic signal in broad daylight in the presence of our children, honk at other vehicles even in B2B traffic and the disrespect we show to pedestrians while driving etc are all proof that our country is getting poorer in all moral ethics.

Of course we all are highly educated but somewhere in our heart, we lack the intuition to be a morally responsible citizen.

So, in short, we Indians need to introspect and check our moral quotient.

So well said, Dimpo. The so called educated motorists of our country don't even have the civic sense or decency to drive on the right side of the road (OR) don't think twice about cutting lanes and inconveniencing other motorists, we have complete disregard for them and care less to acknowledge a fellow motorist on road. But thanks to internet we can all wear cyber masks and do a blame-shame of fellow citizens of our country.

Highest levels of hypocrisy. Education is worth **** when its a question of personal convenience and requirement over morals and ethics.

[heavy_foot]

Originally Posted by lurker

they should have introduced such trains in the south or far east first, nothing would have been broken or trashed. I suspect even Delhi or Punjab would have done better in this regard.

Surprised by the ignorance of people, the windows were broken when the train was on its way to Mumbai from Delhi, before its madien official journey from Mumbai to Goa. Vandels are everywhere in this country. I hope people remember what happened when Rajkumar died in Bangalore.

[D33-PAC]

Someone in this thread mentioned that things in the country get better as one goes from North to South or that you wouldn't see this on a train from Hyderabad to Bangalore.

As a Telugu which makes me South Indian I can tell you this is by a wrong perception.

I went to one of the most expensive private schools in Hyderabad and there were at least #2 children in my school who had grandparents on the Forbes List of Billionaires (Chairmans of top family businesses).

Classmates included sons of Ministers and so on.

Breaking chairs - throwing desks at each other, and putting bombs in lockers where books are supposed to be stored for fun was a regular thing in my school.

This has NOTHING to do with wealth or education or region. It's all about upbringing. Primitive instincts in people come out when they are not accountable for what they do. Some people are raised to fear repercussions of accountability and some aren't.