Distance Between Railway Tracks

We all have travelled by trains in our lives. But, have you ever wondered what the distance between the railway tracks is? The distance between railway tracks is 143.5 cms or 4 ft 8 ½ inches. Now the question is why such an unconventional measure? Wouldn't it be better to keep it 144 or 145 cms exactly?

The answer is simple. The rail carriages were made by using same tools which were used for making horse-driven carriages. The distance between the wheels of these carriages was 143.5 cms because the roads on which they travelled was of same length. Then, who decided the road’s length? We have to move centuries back to Roman Empire to answer this. When Romans built the first ever roads, they used this measurement. And why so? Because their war chariots were driven by 2 horses, specially trained for the task, which when stood side by side measured exactly 143.5 cms!

But what does this distance signify? This signifies the very nature of humans to follow rules without questions. The USA engineers while designing fuel tanks for space ships thought that tanks should be wider. But, they were to be transported through same tracks, and hence could not be made wider than 143.5 cms. Imagine the whole plan of space shuttles was to be changed just because someone decided the width of roads centuries back! Just like the distance between railway tracks, someone has also made rules for everything that we do.

Everyone believes that the life’s aim is to follow a plan. They never ask whose plan is this. So, they never question and just follow the rules. And these rules say that we must study things that we would never use, but what others thought is important (trigonometry, calculus, probability, etc). We must do jobs we detest. We must follow a religion. We must kill in the name of country and religion. We must maintain a status in society. We must work in tight schedules. We must buy jewellery or other expensive items just to show off. We must not make a fuss. We must be amusing all the times. We must always complain but do nothing about it. We must not behave differently. We must dress according to latest fashion. We must not help strangers. We must look down upon those who don’t have as much money as us. We must not follow our dreams. And we must not change the distance between railway tracks!

I’ll give one more example to show how blindly we follow, without ever questioning. Take today’s date. Its 29^th of December and December is the last (twelveth) month of the year. Isn’t it? But did we ever questioned why the twelveth month is called December which literally means tenth? The twelveth month should be called dodecember instead. Anyone who studied Chemistry would understand what I mean. Same is true with September, October and November meaning literally, seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.

Its not that everyone follows these rules blindly. There are many who challenged these rules and brought a change. Mahatma Gandhi, for instance, made non-violence a weapon to fight the mightiest empire of all times! We call such people heroes. I also met such a group of heroes on 22^nd August 2010. They are the Sankalp volunteers!

Before Sankalp, blood banking was doctor’s job. People were not supposed to save lives. Government and hospitals were there for the same purpose after all. Volunteering was just a past time. Social service was another occupation which people did for a living. But, this group of people decided to challenge these rules. And suddenly, college students studying engineering, started to take blood calls! They started to search for blood. They started to work for bettering blood banking. They started to do relief work during disasters. They started to save lives. And eventually, even doctors started to listen to these engineers!

The most amazing thing about Sankalp is the quality it delivers without even a single employee. Everyone in Sankalp is a volunteer and not a social service man. How many organizations are there which are going for ISO certification without a full time employee? I can’t name even one. People at Sankalp are changing the distance between railway tracks for the better of mankind. I don’t know about the challenges they faced in doing so, because all I know about this organization is SUCCESS, a 100% response to each of the blood request recieved in more than 7 years!

Hats off to this team of heroes. 

Why is India Unique?

People, read Indians, often say that India is a unique country. We feel proud to do so.  I wondered why it is so. Why is India unique? If you ask this the common replies that you get are:

We have diversity. Well, it is true that India is a diversified country. But that doesn’t makes it unique. United States is more diversified than us. They are the true global destination with people from almost every country. Even the US army and police force has personnel from various countries and religions. And talking about internal diversity, the diversity of population within the country, China has more than 50 ethical groups.

Then people say that we are the oldest civilization. That’s also true to some extent, but Greek, Egyptian and Mediterranean civilizations also evolved at same time.

One more point people have is India has Unity in Diversity. The fact is we have more communal and regional violence than any other country. Whether its Hindu-Muslim riots, demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan, violence against Hindi speaking in Maharashtra, naxalism or any other such issue, we always put our regional, religious and self interests above the national and even humanitarian interests.

Then what is that makes India unique? The word unique means something that exists as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics. So, here are some points that I think are truly unique to India because no other country possesses them:

1.       Cultural Heritage and Influence: - India has always had a big impact on the world. This is because we are the oldest living civilization of the world.  Thus there were several civilizations that evolved with Indus Valley, or even before that (like Mayan), but we still follow those traditions. For ex- Once there was Ra, the Egyptian God of Sun, Helios, the Greek God of Sun and Surya, the Indian God of Sun. But nobody worships Ra or Helios anymore. While there are still several Indian homes where Surya Namaskar is a daily ritual!

India had the first ever university, Takhshila, the oldest and longest epics are Ramayan and Mahabharat, oldest manuscripts are found in India (written in Pali and Prakrit) etc. This old and continuing civilization also helped India to get some scientific achievements like invention of zero, trigonometry, gravitational force, surgery, astronomy etc to name a few.

India is the only country in the world to have an ocean (Indian Ocean), a sub-continent (Indian-subcontinent) and a group of islands (West Indies) named after it. Such is the cultural influence of India that native people in various parts of the world are called Indians, like Red Indians of native America, and as many as 5 countries have names derived from Sanskrit. They are:

1.       Afghanistan- derived from Sanskrit word Afghan meaning horse riders.

2.       Cambodia- derived from Sanskrit Kamboj, a Khsatriya tribe in Iron-Age India.

3.       Sri Lanka- derived from Sanskrit Lanka meaning a venerable island. It was previously known as Ceylon.

4.       Singapore- derived from Sanskrit Singhpur, meaning city of lions and

5.       China- derived from Sanskrit Cheen. Indians used Cheen to refer Qin dynasty of China.

2.       Geography: - Nature has bestowed India a unique geography that helps it grow and prosper. India can be geographically divided into following regions:

1. The Great Himalayan Range- The largest and highest mountain ranges of world. These help in heavy rainfall and are source to majority of Indian rivers.

2. Northern Plains- They are the most fertile lands in the world due to rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Satluz, Brahmaputra, Chenab, Rabi, Ghaghra, Gomti etc. They are the major factor of high population in northern Indian states.

3. The Thar Desert- The region of Rajasthan and some parts of Gujarat are covered with desert which is continuously expanding towards Punjab.

4. Deccan Plateau- Southern India is located on Deccan Platue that keeps the weather pleasant throughout the year in cities like Bangalore.

5. Coastal Lines- Indian mainland has the coast lines exceeding 7000 kms (without including the islands). They have made Indian cities like Mumbai and Kolkata, a global trade hub.

6. Ghats- Eastern and Western Ghats are mountain ranges located along the Indian coasts. They are home to various endemic species and several spices are grown in them. They have such diversified flora and fauna that they comes under “Biodiversity Hotspots” of world.

7. Islands- India also has 2 island groups, Lakhsyadweep and Andaman & Nicobar.

No other country in the world has geography as diversified. Thus Indian geography makes it unique and a far better place to live than land-locked countries or islands

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3.      Language: - India has more than 1600 languages with dialect changing every 16 kms. We have as many as 22 official languages. Also, Sanskrit is the mother of nearly all the major European languages including English and is one of the oldest languages of the world. Then there are South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam which do not resemble to any other language in the world. Thus, scientists had to invent a whole new lineage of Dravidian languages that evolved out of nowhere!

4.       People and Religion: - Indian people are always peace loving. It is the only country in the world which got its independence on the pillars of truth and non-violence. Though it is the oldest surviving civilization, we have never attacked any country. Indians were always open to people of various faiths and nationalities. We welcomed Jews as the first foreign religion and Jews have historically lived in India without any instances of Anti-Semitism from the local majority populace, the Hindus. India is also the only country in the world that is the birth place of 4 major religions namely, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The beauty of this is that with the exception of Sikhism, all others have non-violence at their core. In today’s vulnerable world, full of hatred against mankind, also, India is a home to a multi-faith population with second highest number of peace loving Muslims!

Proud to be an Indian!