I recently experienced two airports - Calcutta and Bangalore, and one railway station - Banaswadi (in Bangalore).
Bangalore airport is state-of-the-art, and importantly, very convenient and comfortable. What's wonderful is that all the passengers behave in a manner that is expected at an airport.
The same passengers in the Calcutta airport, with a vengeance, it seemed to me, are determined to make it as dirty as possible.
While the Telegraph has been scathing about Calcutta airport, maybe some of that scathing should be directed towards the passengers. Why, in the Bangalore airport, are the bins used? why are the toilets use-able? why is the waiting area clean? why are the coffee cups not left around? why are the newspapers folded and left on the seat? so many whys....
The Banaswadi railway station was another experience. The Railways are doing a fantastic job. There is no doubt about that. Absolutely. A ticket for Howrah, from Banaswadi, for an adult is Rs.264/- and for a child is Rs.137/-. Can you imagine that? A look at the Railway Time-Table that is painted on the wall shows trains going to and coming from places that read like fairy names...the imagination goes riot!
The station was a cute one. Two railway tracks. One covered platform for one railway track. The parallel track on the far side had only the platform, no cover. There were trees growing on the platform with seats built around them, and all along were the 'railway' plants with the big waxy leaves and purple flowers.
There was at one time a picket fence all around. One can see remnants of that. The platform was used to walk a dog, for school children and working mothers to take a short-cut to the road, and even for the station master to come straight to the door of his office on his scooter!
The platform ticket cost Rs 3/-. Obviously that was too much for some of those who had come to receive family and friends, because they just came onto the platform through the gaps in the picket fence. I noticed that they took their family and friends out of the station the same way too - through the gaps!
When we are so vocal about criticizing the country, maybe we could also just stop and wonder if we are pulling our weight as responsible, country-loving citizens...it may be a tiny weight, but collectively we could create change...