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| Indian Railway Story Japan fell in love With | | | 
New Delhi, July 13: It is the final day of the Railway Week at the Bharat Pavilion-India at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka and I am in a magnificent, almost dreamlike situation of international appreciation- and cross cultural sharing. Here, I am not only a party to the celebration of Indian engineering and innovation, but a feeling of a warm appreciation between nations.
In the twisting roads of the Yumeshima Island, where this futuristic Expo is held, converge the inquisitive hordes of people all over the world, especially including the most interested Japanese masses, who have learned to hold the Indian Pavilion, particularly the Indian Railways exhibit, as their essential visiting showpiece.
When Emotion Joins Innovation
There is no mistaking the fluid energy of the Pavilion. Passing the beautiful display of the Vande Bharat Express, shiny and dominated by a whiter and bluer palette, I observe Japanese families taking selfies enthusiastically, children looking at the model of a high-speed train and tech geeks reading the specifications like a book.
These are cool but what really brings tears to my eyes is the gentle greetings of Namaste being passed around. Japanese guests arrive with wide smiles and clasped hands to welcome Indian volunteers and Indian officials with a silent show of panache and quiet appreciation of one another. It is not just polite manners, but appreciation.
I had no idea there were these fast trains in India! This is beautiful, says Akiko Tanaka, a university student now living in Osaka, as she poses in front of the Vande Bharat display, whistles forward like a train and then says with a laugh, Namaste!
A bit further on, clusters of people are gathered around a miniature of this structure, the Chenab bridge, which is the highest railway bridge in the world. They even take pictures of it from all angles, even going down to crouch just to capture the best picture. One of Nagoya's retired engineers explained to me, this is a structural masterpiece. This is amazing to happen in the Himalayas.
Narratives in Iron: Railways which bind a Nation
The Indian Railways part of the Pavilion does not just depict the machines, it narrates. It records the experience of a system which transports 23 million people every day, through augmented reality, immersive projections and virtual tours, across mountains, plains, jungles and deserts.
In this case, Chenab Bridge towering 359 meters over a raging river in the Himalayan mountain range is not just an architectural wonder; it represents a national will to survive. Another showstopper is the Anji Khad Bridge, the very first cable-stayed rail bridge of India in the Kashmir region, which is a treacherous region. Tourists stand quietly to view the video coverage of how the construction workers faced snow and landslides to finish the project.
Even between these giants in engineering, it is the emotional narration that is the most significant. One hemisphere of the exhibit is meant to look like an Indian railway station, the railway station sounding off in Hindi, the sight of chai-wallahs and the reassuring sound of the engines rattling. Numerous Japanese visitors experience an unusual sense of being touched or being moved.
This was a cultural moment more than a technological one.
What I see is not only the exhibit of infrastructure; it is the moment of mutual pride and exploration. Japanese families, which are usually perceived to be reserved, are catching fire as they are not breaking the mold here. They are posing with the small models, they sit down and talk to the Indian representatives, and they even give them a chance to pronounce words such as Vande Bharat and Chenab with excited faces.
Others even request to have their picture taken with the Indian volunteers, and give away some small gift or origami cranes. There is one poignant moment when a bunch of school children bends down low, and in unison says, Namaste India, clicking a group selfie in front of the digital map of the Indian rail network.
A mediocre living in the area, claims that this Pavilion displays the heart of India. You know. Trains are not the only thing. It is about dreams that are going somewhere:
World-aligned Vision
The more general theme of World Expo 2025, i.e., Designing Future Society for Our Lives, with its sub-themes, such as Saving Lives, Empowering Lives and Connecting Lives, has its resonance in the presentation of India. Indian Railways with its intelligent engineering, green technology, and human-oriented mobility looks like an example of how one should think of infrastructure as that which serves individuals, rather than markets.
Use of solar energy stations, incorporation of AI into traffic control, and water conservation as well as the ambitious aim towards the complete process of electrification in 2030 - all of this is described in user-friendly touchscreens and digital timeline which people either young or older can always admire.
When the rest of the world is discussing sustainability, the rail network of India leads the way by demonstrating how it can be done, taken decisively and with inclusion.
The Final Prolonged Impressions
The Indian Pavilion is still crowded, as the sun starts to set, on the last day of Railway Week. Today, people continue to flock into the museum, they snap photographs, socialize and take tours around the showcases in the railway. Masala chai is aromatic and activates a nearby themed shop, and the far-off repetition of the train whistle is heard under the music.
I stop and take a photo in front of the Vande Bharat model, but with a Japanese kid, peaking out and holding his hands up, acting like a train conductor in gleeful laughter. His parents also kneel down before Indian volunteers and say, [We] thank you for showing us this side of India.
And here, inside the sphere of technology and tradition, steel and smiles, I find something eternal. I realize that the Indian Railways, which for so long has been regarded as nothing more than a wonder of logistics, is now a bridge to the world of cultures.
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