Tamil Nadu   

Coach your wards in history

— Photo: S. James.

INTERESTING: G. Thenmozhi, Mayor, in ‘Azadi Express’ in Madurai on Friday.

MADURAI: Glimpses of modern Indian history in the form of photographs, miniature models, cut outs, dioramas, scrollers and videos are railing on the freedom tracks of the nation. ‘Azadi Express,’ a train carrying history on its wheels, entered the Temple City on Friday.

A project of Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the First War of Independence and 60 years of freedom is on the move stationing at 70 junctions in 21 States, according to Rakesh Singh, a DAVP official.

The ‘Azadi Express ‘stands on the eighth platform of Madurai junction and will be here for another day. As the train entered the platform, uniformed school children jumped in joy seeing its tricoloured bogies.

The arrangement of bogies was done on a categorically linear temporal structure with a display of visual imagery of pre-colonial times, colonial invasion followed by the First War of Independence, Gandhi’s emergence, the freedom struggle, India’s independence and the post-colonial nation and its progress since 1947. The exhibition has been mounted on 11 coaches.

The last coach has been transferred into a sales counter for books, khadi items and other products connected with the national movement.

The first coach named ‘Kompany Raj’ has images of the invasion of the Indians by the colonisers and some interesting pictures of earlier peasant revolts and subaltern histories. Images of Veerapandiyan Kattabomman, Veeran Velu Thampi are on display. From 1763 to 1856 there were more than 40 major and hundreds of minor rebellions initiated by the dispossessed peasantry class.

The second coach named ‘lightning’ has illuminated images of the 1857 uprising. The Court Order to hang Mangal Pandey and the banyan tree on which he was hanged are exhibited.

Mohandas Gandhi’s emergence in the national movement with his images as barrister in South Africa, non-cooperation movement, salt satyagraha, Round Table Conference and the clash with another stalwart B. R. Ambedkar during the Communal Award in 1932 are also on display.

There are several rare and great photographs — a moving image of the 1943 Great Bengal Famine, Gandhi’s meeting with Sree Narayana Guru and the great proclamation of the Bengal Partition on November 1, 1905, Madame Bhikaji Cama unfurling the Indian flag at Stuttgart conference and freedom fighter Rani Gaidinliu of Manipur.

Nehru’s famous ‘India’s Tryst with Destiny’ speech in an audio-visual mode, Indo-Pak war, Indira Gandhi and her emergence in the Indian political scene, Pokhran I and II have also been kept.

Last three coaches focus on the emergence of India as a nation marching forward towards prosperity with miniature models of dams, Green Revolution, White Revolution and the rise of the nationalist press in a vibrant democracy are portrayed in a section.

The miniatures of Brahmos missile, GSAT-3, fighter jets and helicopters make the little kids shout in ecstasy. The history on wheels certainly will be an exhilarating experience for everyone.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

What next, Mr. John Vijay?
MNCs steal the show
Development works in Karur get a boost
Informative
Army recruitment
‘93 per cent of property offence cases detected in Krishnagiri district’
Creative work
Four suspended
2 killed in accident
‘Parvettai vizha’ on January 16
Jaggery units having a taste of loss
Protest against erratic water supply
Army recruitment rally
River basins to be developed in Theni
Student commits suicide
A Tamil Festival
Thico Silks
Maya Appliances (P) Limited
Prakash Textiles – Colour Pluss
Results on the spot at High Court
Survey under way for exclusive freight corridor
Rs.25 lakh sanctioned to Ariyalur for relief works
Plan to raise mangrove forests in coastal areas
Major fire at CPCL’s crude oil jetty
Laboratories, women college hostel planned
Hindu Munnani cadres held
Job scheme to start in April
“Auto Nagar” to become operational from April
Rs. 1.82 cr. allocated for town panchayat
Forum for eight-hour shift
Pongal to be made New Year day
Create awareness of preventable diseases: Poongothai
Mystery shrouds power cable cutting
Municipal chairman’s plea to Collector
Distance education wing fills Madurai Kamaraj University coffers
“Ban export of cotton”
Coach your wards in history
University results published
“State must crack down on extremism”
Discussion on harvest festivals
Mettur level
Cracking property cases Law & order
Complexities of suspicious deaths Law & order
Question banks
A mischief that calls for action Law and order
To the rescue of consumers Law & order
Felicitation
For outstanding contribution
Government Adi Dravidar School in dire need of compound wall
Special audit training programme concludes
200 Jamaath members held in Tiruchi
Old man held for selling arrack
Writ appeal in disinvestment case closed
First batch of Haj pilgrims arrives
MDMK workers observe fast
“Across-the-board reduction alone will bring down cement prices”
Revised IT policy to project State as prime investment destination
Railway reservation centre timings
Bonus for Aavin workers
Two ADGPs promted
Central teams take stock of rain damage
Department of Posts to mechanise sorting system
Advocates protest against Modi’s visit
School, college buses may have to sport sky blue colour

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu