After a gap of 3 years, railways to have R-Day tableau, to showcase Train 18, bullet train

After a gap of three years, the railways is all set to showcase its tableau in the Republic Day parade depicting the "transformation of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi" and highlight the yet-to-be-launched bullet train and Train 18, according to a statement from the ministry Friday.

The tableau on the theme "Mohan se Mahatma" will depict the "transformation of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi" highlighting the incident in 1893, when the young Mohandas was thrown out of a "European only" compartment at Pietermaritzburg railway station in South Africa which acted as a catalyst for him to practice 'Satyagrah'.

"He later emerged as 'Mahatma' for this nation," the statement said.

The front portion of tableau will showcase a steam engine on whose top is perched a bust of Mahatma Gandhi which is similar to the bust installed in June 2018 at the Pietermaritzburg railway station of South Africa.

The first coach of middle portion shows the young Gandhi being thrown out from the compartment in South Africa, the second coach of the middle portion depicts Gandhiji with his wife, Kasturba Gandhi, meeting people at railway station as Gandhiji travelled in third class compartment across the length and breadth of India by train after his return to India from South Africa in 1915.

In the rear portion of the tableau, Mahatma Gandhi is shown collecting donations for the 'Harijan Fund' during his train journey to Bengal, Assam and South India, carried out between November 1945 and January 1946.

The side panel showcases, how Indian Railways has spearheaded Mahatma Gandhi's vision of swadeshi as shown in Indian Railways' journey starting from the era of steam engines, to indigenously made and state-of-the-art 'Train-18', an engineless train made under Make in India' project of the Government of India.