Bridges not Walls

From Miraj, a small town in South Maharashtra, till recently, ran a narrow gauge line to Pandharpur, a famous Vaishnav pilgrim place, visited by millions of devotees from all over India. The Railway line was commissioned way back in 1927, and was called "Barshi Light", the train was popularly nicknamed "God's Vehicle" (Devachi Gadi") . For over three fourths of a century, it carried the "Vithal" devotees, who would bear all hardships for just a sight of the smiling idol. The train took all day to travel a distance of 135 KM. Yet people went.

Times change and, the old has to make way for the new. With the Indian Railways deciding on a single Broad Gauge for all tracks, through out India, it was inevitable that this Narrow Gauge line would have to be up graded.

This line went over several bridges, most of them were beautiful masonry arch bridges, built from dressed quartzite stone using lime mortar.

It must have been fascinating indeed, for our ancestors to cross a rapidly flowing stream, using a log, which had luckily fallen across the stream, and at the same time was long enough to have "bridged" it.

Bridges have fascinated us ever since. From the simplest ones to those that are no less than monuments, great testimonials, indeed, to our ingenuity and sheer grit.

Today a Bridge is not just a structure, which helps us cross physical barriers, but has entered our daily lexicon, as a facilitator which helps us cross all barriers, including emotional ones. The famous line from a song sung by Simon and Garfunkel, "Like a Bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down". comes to my mind.

One such bridge, near Miraj, though not a great monument, but certainly having it's own identity, and charm, never failed to gladden my heart, for it's sheer beauty. I felt proud, that I belonged, to a profession, which could create some thing so nice, out of mundane materials like stone and lime.

Alas this bridge too will have to go. It simply cannot take on, the heaver and faster trains, that will soon start running on the new line. I know for sure, the bridge, that will replace this beautiful one, will be an ugly concrete structure, sans any individuality. It will certainly be functional, but will not warrant a second glance. Forget creating aspirations, in the minds of the viewers.

I have always wondered, at the "vanishing", of the Cheshire cat in Lewis Carrol's "Alice's Adventures in Wonder Land". The cat disappears, but the grin on it's face lingers on, prompting Alice to reflect that, "I have seen a cat without a grin, but not a grin, without a cat".

I hope, when the Bridge is gone, the aspirations it created still linger on.
And one day when better times return, we learn to build, beautiful structures again, the sight of which, will make our heart leap with happiness.

As Yousuf Raza Gillani, Prime Minister of Pakistan, recently said, in a different context, India and Pakistan should build "Bridges" and not "Walls".