All language subtitles for 孟买铁路.E02.梦想_track3_[eng]

India is the largest democracy
in the world.

The head of state is a Muslim,
the head of government is a Sikh

and the head of the ruling
political party is an
Italian Catholic immigrant.

Such cultural and religious
diversity is unparalleled
in the developing world.

400 years ago Bombay was gifted
by the Portuguese to the British
as a dowry -

a wedding gift.

THEY SING: "Jingle Bells".

When the British left,
they bequeathed the foundations
of a secular society,

of democracy, the law,
the Anglican church and the greatest
railway system in all Asia.

India is undergoing
unprecedented growth and Bombay
is its financial powerhouse.

The city promotes a positive
vision of the future,

a place where dreams can come true.

And for many the railway is
their lifeline to that dream.

Happy Christmas!

This is the story
of the Bombay Railway.

Within 30 years India's economy
could rival America's

and its population
could outstrip China.

Agriculture still provides work for
more than half of the population,

but as everywhere,
they are migrating to the cities
in their millions.

The draw of the city,
the promise of a better life,

is a universal dream.

At its heart is Bombay -

the city of dreams.

Last year 13,000 Indians
became millionaires,
and the majority were from Bombay.

A city of success, celebrity and
wealth where, if you don't become

a Bollywood star or a millionaire,
you can at least make a living.

What made it all possible in India,
was the coming of the railway.

The British laid the first railway
line in Bombay 150 years ago,

since when Indian Railways have
been adding to their system.

Now it's the biggest
railway system in Asia.

Every year, they celebrate that
first run, with a little bit of
nostalgia and a lot of steam.

The first railway train

which ran in India was way back
in 1853, 16th April.

It was decided that 16th of
April of every year will be
declared as the Railway Week.

This steam locomotive is a WP
class of locomotive manufactured
by Baldwin company of USA.

It's a beautiful sight
to see a steam locomotive
fully steamed up, ready to go.

But today we are handling about
60-65,000 passengers per hour.

On both systems of Central
Railway and Western Railway

we carry more than six million
passengers a day - a day!

There are more than 2,000 trains
a day on the suburban network

and hundreds more on
long distance routes.

The suburban railway alone
moves the equivalent of

the entire population of
a small country in and out
of the city every day.

The railway is reliable.
It's cheap, and very, very crowded.

They may have changed Bombay
to Mumbai, but in an
ever-changing city,

the railway has remained the only
constant in most peoples' lives.

BIRDS CAW

Mumbai rises early.

The first ritual of the day
is to bathe.

WATER GUSHES

Whether Hindu or Muslim,
Christian, Parsi or Sikh,

life revolves around hard work,

duty to the family
and devotion to your god.

And the railway is a family.

From father to son, generation to
generation, the railway in India
is so much more than a train ride.

It's a way of life.

Hans Dev Sharma
is a senior operations clerk.

He works in the timetabling
department which schedules
thousands of trains a day.

So Hans is an optimist and one of
the railway's happiest employees.

Morning, sir.

It was a craze to get a government
job and it was also saying that

a government job was very relaxing
job, nothing to do over there.

Before the railways, Hans
started life as an actor,

specialising in character roles,
and comedy is his thing.

When it's crowded, the faces of
these handles becomes like this.

And when it's empty the faces
they becomes like, very happy.

Hans works at Churchgate,
Mumbai's busiest railway station.

He comes from a railway family.

His father was in the signals
department and Hans followed in his
footsteps at the tender age of 21.

She looks after me.
I look after her work.

That's it.

She's Pradnia, colleague of mine.

He's CITT.

Hans is just one of a million
and a half employees of the
Indian Railways -

now the biggest civil
employer in the world.

It's an administrative hothouse
invented by the British
and expanded upon by the Indians.

It generates a mountain
of paperwork,

but even with the introduction
of computers,

Hans' office isn't quite paper-free.

Computers have helped him
in working out the timetable.

Now it only takes half the time.

So when the timetable's done,
there's plenty of administration

to deal with, some of which
requires that personal touch.

Because the railways is state-owned,
it's governed by the principals
of the constitution.

And to ensure that the organisation
reflects the society it serves,

it has employment quotas.

It has a sports quota,

a scheduled caste quota,

a disabled quota

and a cultural quota.

Hans Dev Sharma was
talent-spotted by the railways

as an exceptional actor and dancer.

He was auditioned and examined
and subsequently offered a job.

I had seen Bollywood and
I had reached to the mark,

if I give more time to Bollywood
I can be a good character artist,
a renowned one.

But I am not giving as well as I am
giving preference to Railways first

because that is my say,
bread and butter.

For the sake of his family,
Hans the actor and comedian

accepted a secure job
with the railway,

rather than pursue
a career in Bollywood.

In his time he's appeared in a
few TV soaps, a couple of small

budget films, and his son Arun
also wants a career on the stage.

MUSIC AND EXCITED CHATTER

The mission of the cultural group
is to entertain and enhance

the cultural wellbeing
of the railway workforce.

Tonight's play is based upon a story
from the Mahabharata, and Hans is
playing Krishna, the lead role.

I'm portraying a character
whom everybody knows in India
especially and abroad also.

Everybody is being known
by Krishna, who is Krishna.

For that purpose I have to play a
cunning smile and an angry role.

Tricky.

EERIE MUSIC PLAYS

The railway audience
may not be huge,

but acting is a vocation for Hans,
so he has satisfaction in the art.

TRAFFIC NOISE

In a country where aspirations are
rising, Mumbai is the epicentre
of the modern Indian world.

Its population growth is staggering.

And it remains India's most
successful city. And it's Bollywood.

More Indian films were
released in Britain last year
than British films.

Stars are paid in millions
and millions can even be won
on TV game shows.

And each week Indians buy a
million new mobile phones.

Jagdish Paul is part of the
new generation of Mumbaikers.

Confident, educated, ambitious
for the good things in life.

The son of a Railway Catering
Officer, Jagdish, like his father,
always had an interest in food,

but unlike his father
he had no interest in the railway.

Jagdish graduated in politics and
economics, did a law degree and
then became a fully qualified chef.

But the railways
were calling him back.

You can travel anywhere on
the subcontinent by long distance
train from here.

With journeys sometimes
lasting days, passengers
need just two things.

A reservation, and something to eat.

Catering on long distance trains
has for some time been tendered out
to private companies.

In a sealed bid, Jagdish won the
contract for one of the railway's

most popular long-distance routes
from Mumbai to Goa and the South.

Mumbai is a city of dreams
where, they say, the streets
are paved with gold.

They also say that
the city never sleeps -
and neither does the railway.

In a city driven by profit,
the suburban railway system runs

at a loss, and it operates
almost 24 hours of the day.

The railway is a lifeline for
the population and an essential
service for the city it serves.

All the growth that's taking
place in this country, a lot
of it can be attributed to the

robust working of this organisation.

You have areas where
you can't make profits.

But you can't abandon
your people there.

You have areas where you have
only two trains going in a system.

If you take them away,
because they are not making profit,
then the people

will have nothing to fall back upon
and probably it will in the long run

work as an impediment to the
economic progress of that area.

CLICK

BELL CHIMES TWICE

TRAIN HORN BLOWS

The first commuter train sets off
from the outskirts of the city

at 3.40 in the morning,

and the first commuters
are village people bringing
their produce to market.

Without the railway, millions
of people and the families they
support just could not survive.

While we like to keep our head
above water, yet we have

been discharging our duties
for the society everywhere

and the Mumbai Suburban
system is one of that.

Mumtaz Khazi is the daughter of a
railwayman and she drives commuter
trains on the suburban network.

Mumtaz was brought up in a
traditional Muslim family -

a railway family.

And like most railway families,
their house was literally
right by the side of the tracks.

Mumtaz Khazi was
studying at university,
when she saw an ad in the newspaper.

Mumtaz became Asia's first woman
loco diesel driver and has
driven trains all over India.

But now she has a family of her own,
and she's settled into the railway
life in Mumbai,

driving trains
on the suburban network.

She lives at Sion colony, just a
few stations from where she grew up.

All her immediate family
emigrated to Canada.

And now her father's retired
there too, so Mumtaz is the
only member left in Mumbai.

And in a few days, her brother
is coming from Toronto

and she's been asked to
find him a suitable wife
and arrange his marriage.

Mumtaz has to find a wife
for her brother,

to get him married in Mumbai,

and then back to Canada
in just eight weeks.

After independence, the
constitution of India proclaimed it

"a sovereign, socialist,
secular democratic republic."

With 395 articles,
it is perhaps the longest and most
detailed constitution in the world.

COMMANDS ARE SHOUTED

CYMBALS CRASH

TRUMPET PLAYS

The railways were nationalised
after independence and remains

a state-funded organisation
with a huge budget, second only
to the Ministry of Defence.

So, the railways celebrate Republic
Day with all the pageantry befitting

one of the country's most
important national assets.

But beneath the ceremony and ritual,
the railway still remains

quietly committed to all the
principles of that constitution.

So, when Mumbai's population
is swelled by a couple
of million pilgrims,

the railway simply
takes it in its stride.

Each year the city fathers and
Indian Railways play host to

an extra two million rural peoples
who invade their city for four days.

They are know as the Dalit -

the untouchable caste.
SHOUTING

They're all devotees
of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar -

one of the architects of the
Indian constitution and champion
of the downtrodden poor of India.

PEOPLE SING

Before Ambedkar's intervention,
the Dalit were virtual slaves.

Ambedkar opened up opportunities
in education for them,

made quotas for government
jobs like the railways,

and he secured their right to vote.

SHOUTING AND CHEERING

The railway provides these pilgrims
with special free travel

and the city gives them
a free place to stay.

Ambedkar gave them their freedom.

For four days and nights they show
their respect to the man who himself

was born a Dalit,
but who died a saint.

At Mumbai's international airport,
Mumtaz and her family

are meeting her brother Feroz,
who's just arrived from Canada.

He's come in search of a wife.

Mumtaz has the responsibility of
finding a suitor and marrying him
off in the next two months.

In Toronto?

Arranged marriages in India, whether
Hindu, Muslim or even Christian,

are what most people prefer.

Mumtaz and Feroz come from a
traditional Muslim background

and although he may now live in
Canada, the family believe his
suitor is best found in Mumbai.

Today, 90% of all marriages
in India are arranged.

Yet less than 2% ever get divorced.

An arranged marriage
is a family affair -

not just the joining of husband
and wife, but the joining of
two extended Indian families.

He's sure he didn't put it
in the bag that is lost.

Feroz is a product engineer,

searching for a bride in Mumbai
to take back to Canada.

Finding a wife with a good
education and a degree is must for
this middle class Indian boy.

No degree, no marriage.

CAR HORNS HOOT

HE SHOUTS AND THEY CHEER

In a fast changing India,
education is seen as the only route

to a middle class life,
secure, and free from poverty.

Private schools are full

and colleges and universities
are turning out graduates
in record numbers.

And they're all looking for a job.

So whenever vacancies arise,
Indian Railways are inundated
with applications.

You can pick up an application
form around most stations

and for a few rupees they'll
show you how to fill it in.

The railway receives so many
applications in fact,

that they have to hold
examinations almost monthly
at centres across the city.

It's a high security operation
with an armed escort by the
railway's own police force.

Whether you are a budding driver,
a clerk or a signalman, the odds
of success are about sixty to one.

At exam centres around the city,
18,000 hopefuls are cramming
up to the last minute.

At stake are 300 vacancies
for Group D clerical jobs.

Many of the candidates are
graduates and the exams are tough -
in both English and Hindi.

But the rewards are guaranteed.

A job with the railways is
an attractive proposition

because if you are successful,
it's a job for life.

Free medical care,
a pension, housing...

security for you and your
family in this life...

and maybe beyond.

In a city where there's a
chronic shortage of housing

and where seven million people
live in slums, finding
a home is difficult.

But for railway employees,
housing comes with the job.

They're all allocated accommodation
in one of the railway's
many colonies.

And Badhwar Park
is the best railway address in town.

It's home to Mumbai's top 250
railway officers and their families.

In a city where real estate prices
are as high as New York or London,

to live in a three bedroom apartment
in the centre of town is beyond the
means of all but the very rich.

I think the cost of our flats...

the market value of that
I'm telling you is more than
30 millions or so...

In terms of Rupees, I'm telling you,
more than 30 million to 40 million.

We just can't imagine
living in such a place.

But officers of the railway
live here with their families
for just a nominal rent.

The railway family of Badhwar Park
is conservative and traditional.

Its clubs and societies
reflect a colonial past.

But its confidence and success
are very much of today.

I declare this meet open...

Badhwar Park is an exclusive colony
for the railway's top managers.

And it's a one-off.

You may be there for
four years, maybe forty -
it depends on your next posting.

But for the majority of railway
employees, colonies provide a
simple but comfortable home.

Such care makes for a stable and
traditional family environment.

And most importantly,

a contented workforce.

This is my railway colony...

and we are at the prime location of
Bombay. That is Santa Cruz East.

SMASHING GLASS
HE LAUGHS

We're giving rent - nominal rent.

Free facilities, free maintenance,
nothing to be bothered about.

It is very near to airport.

Very near to station, obviously.
TRAIN TOOTS

Near to station means we are very
much in a helping hand of railways -

to go by railway, for
the railways, to the railways.

The concept of the railway colony
as an essential ingredient

for a happy and efficient workforce,
was a British import.

60 years after they left,
it's still working well.

There hasn't been a strike
on the railways since 1972.

The British construction of
the railways revolutionised
the economy of the country

and transformed Mumbai
into the commercial capital
of the Arabian Sea.

Victoria Terminus was positioned
to face the port,

a beacon of empire
and international trade.

It was a statement
of imperial power and success.

Built by the Great India
Peninsula Railway in 1888
to house its headquarters,

Victoria Terminus was
to the British Empire

what the Taj Mahal
was to the Moguls.

It's over a hundred years
since VT was built.

Now it's called
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus -

it's become a World Heritage site.

The British brought the railways to
India and now it's the railways
that bring many of them back.

At VT station a group of train
enthusiasts are making a nostalgic
journey into the world of steam.

If you want to have a look,
see where you're sitting...

John and Les, Chris and Alex,
and their leader, Peter -
an accountant from Doncaster -

have all come here to live
the train spotter's dream.

There's a travelling ticket inspector
down at the bottom there where I want
to take a picture...

If anybody wants to wander down
and have a look at the loco
then by all means do.

Should the train go while you're
down there, just get in at

the nearest doorway and amble
back here at the first stop.

We like trains, y'know...

I've always had a big interest,

but I've never quite found time to
follow up as much as I would like.

We're going to do
this line to Matheran

which has a locomotive which
came originally from the
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

So we want to see that,
photograph it, travel behind it.

Unfortunately the line has been
closed up to Matheran due to
a landslide.

We can go part way only.

It's a pocket atlas...
This is a very unhandy map!

WHISTLE BLOWS

It all stems from when I was a child
and there was a railway at the
bottom of the garden, I think.

And I haven't recovered
from that yet!

I'm a signal engineer...
I can bore for Britain on signals!

When the heat of the plains
became too hot for the Raj,
they headed for the hills

where a cooler climate,
an airy bungalow and a cold beer
could ease the burden of empire.

TRAIN WHISTLE SHRIEKS

TRAIN WHISTLES

INDIAN MUSIC PLAYS

The Matheran was a hill top resort
with fresh air, stunning views

and reportedly, 'free from
any suspicion of malaria.'

But to get there,
they needed a railway.

The line was built by the son of a
wealthy Indian, who established the

Matheran Steam Light Tramway Company
which opened the line in 1907.

Today's trip is only as far as
Jumupatti Station - normally just
an hour or so from the railhead.

But with the train at their
disposal, they're determined to get
as many drive-bys as they can.

So it could take much longer.

Cameras loaded, cards sent,
diaries written, it's the high point

of a two week hill station tour,
from where the British once ruled
India.

Today, it's a very different story.

I couldn't believe it when I heard
they'd been bowled out for 323...

The Matheran Railway was merely a
means to an end for the British Raj.

To these steam enthusiasts,
it's a minor miracle.

But today's Indian Railways
has even greater ambitions...

TRAINS HOOTS LOUDLY

The British once dreamed of
building a railway line along the
coast from Mumbai to the south.

But they decided it was too costly
and too difficult.

But in 1990,
Indian Railways started building.

Known as the Konkan Railway, it took
eight years to complete, and it's
recognised as an engineering marvel.

Ninety one tunnels, over 2,000
bridges and 700 kilometres long,

it runs to Kerala and the south.

It was the railway's most ambitious
project in the last ten years...

and it's knocked eighteen
hours off the journey time.

Mumbai to Goa is the most
popular and most profitable
stretch on the Konkan line.

In recent years it's become
a regular route for the city's
middle classes.

THEY SING NOISILY

Goa - a place to relax, suitable
for family holidays, for those all
important office away-days.

And for the young,
it's a place to party.

Why Goa? Because a) the
men have all the profit.

After long working days, you have
good-looking women, you have lots
of water, you have lots of booze.

As for the women, you have lots of
good-looking men, lots of water,
lots of booze - that's why!

It's a kind of a chill zone there.

You don't think
about your work there.

It's completely free - relaxed.

You just get up in the morning,
and hit the beach...

just laze around on the beach
and do what you want.

Jagdish Raj and his crew
are in the pantry car cooking
dinner for the passengers.

At less than a pound for a chicken
fried rice, it's cheap, very cheap.

TRAIN HORN BLARES

Chicken fried rice,
chicken chilli, chicken noodles...

Chicken tikka, no?

With a menu of simple continental,
Chinese, and Indian food...

a thousand passengers a day...

seven days a week...

it's a profitable franchise.

Goa is the new playground of Mumbai.

12 hours by overnight train.

It's become India's favourite
destination for honeymooning
couples.

And Goa is a golden opportunity
for Jagdish,

he's planning his dream future.

A gambling casino, a boutique hotel,
an Italian restaurant...

but so far there are
no plans to marry.

Either a man is happy or married.

With miles of unspoilt tropical
beaches, Goa is also a favourite
location for Bollywood scenes.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

Twelve months ago, Arun,
son of Hans, was cast in an ad

for an American insurance company,
shooting in Goa.

The ad was successful
so they're shooting another one.

This time on VT Station,

with the elephant.

Arun is only eleven years old,

but he's already following in
father's footsteps.

They gave me a hint - "OK, Hans,
your kid has a spark of acting.

"Just give him a push."

I'm not expecting anything from him,
I'm just doing my duty.

That is his duty whether
he can do it or not.
I'm not expecting anything.

The son is doing something
better than his father,
so that is a great part of that.

And I feel very much proud of that.
Very much proud.

THE CHILDREN SHOUT

THE ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

Today, India's online middle
classes number almost 400 million

and they're on a spending spree.

In suburban shopping malls,
young Mumbaikers hang out just like
their western counterparts.

But when it comes to marriage, they
follow the wishes of the family...

and a tradition
that has lasted for 5000 years.

After two weeks of searching,
Mumtaz has turned up several options

for her brother and he's
already met six of them.

In Canada, their parents
and the rest of the family
are anxiously waiting for news.

First option was a dentist.

She was a dentist and...
HE LAUGHS

..but the girl was not good-looking.

So...nobody liked that option.

So then we went for
the second option.

She was a B. Pharm plus MBA.

She was very good, very cute
and even I liked her,
everybody liked her.

The real problem is that
I don't have enough time.

The time is running
out from my hand.

On the early morning train
to Pune, Mumtaz and Feroz,
and a tired young Taushib,

are off to meet another
selection of potential brides.

But they're all graduates.

One is doctor - MBBS, and one is MBA
- Master of Business Administration.

I think this will
be the last chance!

I can't go home empty-handed!

Yeah, it's the decision
of a lifetime...yeah...

Whole...life depends on this.

After two months of searching
for his dream girl,
it's finally happened.

Her name is Shabana and she
and Feroz are to be married

at the Officers Club
near Matunga Station.

They met on the internet and
their first face-to-face meeting
was just two weeks ago.

She's an MBA now working
in Bahrain, and she flew
to Mumbai to meet Feroz.

The match was agreed,
and now Shabana has married
into a railway family.

RADIO COMMENTARY DROWNED BY SHOUTING

RADIO: Against Pakistan at Lahore
in 2004 when India...

RADIO CONTINUES FAINTLY

INDISTINCT SPEECH

I had applied for a tender
for a particular train

to run the onboard pantry car
catering on the Mangalore express.

And we had to bid for the train.
I bid for the train,

but somehow my bid was a bit low
so I am not a successful bidder.

They have sent my cheque back

with a letter saying that the
successful bidder's got the train.

Jagdish Paul Raj
grew up with the railway.

Thanks to the railway he's
become a successful player
in the catering business.

But we all grow up
with some kind of dream.

Everyone has a dream when they're
growing up, they have a dream.

Some dream of becoming a
cricketer or a businessman
or an engineer or a doctor...

So everyone dreams.

FIREWORKS EXPLODE

I grew up listening to the
sound of the train moving.

I will always be associated
with the railways.

I will try to.

Mumbai Railways, like the city
it serves, is overcrowded,
ambitious and optimistic.

Thanks to the railways,
operating officer Hans Dev Sharma
is living the dream.

Railways are his life and his stage.

No doubt railways are
bread and butter to me.

And cultural activities
in the railways

are the juice - cup of juices -
cup of milkshakes,
cup of Bournvitas to me.

They're boosting
me up more and more.

Bread and butter, the juices and all,
you can live a good life.

THEY SING BOLLYWOOD-STYLE

WHISTLE BLOWS

HE HUMS THE SAME TUNE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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