A
railway platform/station is the place where trains stop at and depart from. The
passengers get on and get off a train from a railway station/platform. It
usually occupies a large area. A railway station has aplatform. However a big
railway station has a number of
platforms. Platforms are often covered with huge tin-shed. If there are more
than one platform, an over-bridge connects them. In a railway station/platform there
are some rooms too, namely station master‘s room, waiting room, restaurant,
go-down, booking
office,
ticket counter. There are some benches in the railway station/platform for the
convenience of the traveling passengers. One can also see some stalls in a row
selling cheaper kinds of books, newspapers, magazines etc. snacks and tea and
even stationary goods. Besides, a large number of hawkers can be seen busily
moving from passengers to passengers with cigarettes, betel leaf, bread,
chanachur etc. We find some beggars, thieves, swindlers and pickpockets in that
place too. A railway platform/ station becomes very busy when a train arrives.
Whistles of the train, rustling sound of the engine, movements of the passengers
in a hurry, shouts of the hawkers and porters make the railway station/platform
full of din and bustle. When the train whistles away, the station becomes calm
and quiet. All these pictures taken together remind us of the famous line of
the poet, ―Man may come and man may go, I go on forever‖. This coming and going
sustain the flow of life. Of course, a railway station/platform is a very busy
and important place.