HALT STATION INDIA CHRONICLES THE DRAMATIC RISE OF INDIA’S ORIGINAL RAIL NETWORK, THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST TRAIN, AND THE SUBSEQUENT EMERGENCE OF A PIONEERING ELECTRIC LINE—ALL IN THE PORT CITY OF BOMBAY. TRAINS THAT ONCE PROVOKED AWE AND FEAR—THEY WERE VIEWED AS FIRE CHARIOTS, SMOKE-SPEWING DEMONS—HAVE TODAY BECOME A NATION’S LIFEBLOOD.
TAKING A WALK ALONG INDIA’S FIRST RAIL LINES, THE AUTHOR STUMBLES UPON FRAGMENTS OF THE PAST—A CLOCK AT VICTORIA TERMINUS THAT OFFERS A RARE VIEW OF A CITY; A CANNON NEAR MASJID BUNDER STATION THAT IS WORSHIPPED AS A GOD; A WATCHTOWER OVERLOOKING SION STATION, BELIEVED TO HAVE HOUSED A WITCH. EACH PIT-STOP COMES WITH STORIES OF DESIRE AND WAR, AMBITION AND DEATH—BY DOCKYARD ROAD STATION, FOR INSTANCE, AUTHOR LAURENCE STERNE’S BELOVED, ELIZA DRAPER, FOLLOWED A SAILOR INTO THE SEA; OR CLOSE TO PAREL STATION, THE WIFE OF INDIA’S GOVERNOR GENERAL, LORD CANNING FOUND A GARDEN RICH IN TROPICAL VEGETATION; THIS, SHE REPLICATED AT BARRACKPORE.
DRAWING FROM JOURNALS, BIOGRAPHIES, NEWSPAPERS AND RAILWAY ARCHIVES—AND WITH NOSTALGIC, FIRST-TIME ACCOUNTS OF THOSE WHO TRAVELLED BY INDIA’S EARLIEST TRAINS—THE BOOK CAPTURES THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVOLUTIONS SPURRED BY THE COUNTRY’S FIRST TRAIN LINE. IN THIS, HALT STATION INDIA IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE RAILWAYS—IT IS THE STORY OF THE GROWTH OF INDIA’S BUSINESS CAPITAL AND A RARE STUDY OF A NATION.
भारतात १८५३ मध्ये पहिली रेल्वे धावली. या शोधाने भारतीय जनजीवनाचा चेहरामोहरा बदलला. या पहिल्या आगीनगाडीच्या आगमनाची कहाणी अनेकानेक रोचक गोष्टींनी भरलेली आहे. . रेल्वेच्या विस्तारित जाळ्याबरोबरच अनुषंगिक प्रसंग,रेल्वे स्थानकाच्या निर्मितीचा इतिहास आणि त्या संदर्भातील छोटे उपकथानक या सर्वांचा रोचक, ऐतिहासिक वृत्तान्त या पुस्तकात समाविष्ट आहे. मुंबईतलं पहिलं वाफेचं इंजिन,आगगाडीला भुताटकी समजणारा भोळा समाज आणि त्यावेळच्या गमतीजमतींसह तत्कालीन अद्भुत व चित्ताकर्षक तपशीलवार गोष्टींमुळे त्या सोनेरी दिवसांचं चित्रच जणू डोळ्यांसमोर उभं राहातं.
INDIAN AUTHORS AWARD 2021 - HISTORY & TRAVEL