A retired government officer in Sri Lanka, Saman Athaudahetti is well known in the island’s political, literary, and cultural circles for his many avatars — as adviser to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, additional secretary when Wickremesinghe was Premier, and as television presenter, author, and lyricist. Despite several official visits and holiday trips to India, it is only post-retirement that he was able to earmark time for this “dream”.“I must have gone to India about 30 to 40 times, mostly for work. I did manage to do a few holiday trips, and I had the chance to travel by train…I found it simply amazing,” he says, speaking to The Hindu in Colombo. Like India, Sri Lanka’s own railway network was built during British colonial rule. Labourers from South India, brought to the island to work on tea plantations (or Malaiyaha Tamils as they are identified today), helped build it. But the extent of the Indian railway network and its reach to remote parts of the country, have long fascinated Athaudahetti, so much so that he decided to write a book on the theme, following his travelogues.
At Jammu Tawi, a railway station in Jammu city
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Special Arrangement
India-Sri Lanka Foundation, a trust fund setup by the governments of the two countries to back projects aimed at enhancing relations between the nations, offered to support Athaudahetti’s book project. “The book will first be published in Sinhala and possibly translated to English later. The idea is to capture the expanse of the Indian Railways, so I travelled through 17 states and nine railway zones, covering very different geographies, cities, and experiences,” he says. In addition to financial support, Indian authorities and a travel agent helped him plan his visit, including the itinerary, logistics and his interviews with various officials. “Many of the Indian officials were incredibly helpful, especially Dinesh Sood [Senior Principal Private Secretary to the Member (Infrastructure), Railway Board]. The railway staff I met are like family now, sending me WhatsApp forwards and good morning greetings every day,” he says.
