VSK, Chennai
RSS Media Centre in Chennai, which has been releasing Panchaamritam (a fortnightly dispatch of five selected inspiring news-items) since April 2003, conducts two-day journalism introduction classes in every district headquarters in Tamil Nadu. In one such class held at Erode on December 10 and 11, 2005, all the young participants came forward to write a letter each, appreciating the sense of duty of two trackmen of the Southern Railways, who had saved the lives of thousands of train passengers during the devastating downpour in Tamil Nadu last month. This was in response to an appeal in Dinamalar newspaper by its editor. The appeal said: ?By midnight of November 30, Suresh Gandhi and Kalyanasundaram, two trackmen, noticed that a length of the railway tracks between Ariyalur and Tiruchy junction had been washed away by flash floods under a river bridge. Anantapuri Express was speeding towards this point with over a thousand passengers on board. Suresh acted spontaneously. He ran a kilometer along the slippery track in pitch dark in the direction of the approaching train and switched on the red flashlight signalling danger. This was to give the driver of the train sufficient distance to bring it to a halt. An imminent disaster was thus averted. Meanwhile, Kalyanasundaram ran the other way up to a point wherefrom his mobile phone could send signals; from there he alerted Pullambadi, the next railway station. Thus traffic on both directions on that section could be stopped immediately. I (the editor of Dinamalar) managed to collect the postal addresses of these two devatas who saved a huge number of people. They are 1. Suresh Gandhi, Trackman, Victor Nagar, Samudram, District Trichy and 2. R. Kalyana-sundaram, Trackman, Quarters No. 5-B, Vaalaadi, District Trichy. Go ahead and pat them by writing to them both. They shall value it most. You would have just discharged your patriotic duty by writing to them.?
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