Kochi: For the 52 little kids from the remote village of Parambencherry lying in the district border, it was a first-time experience travelling in the train when their school authorities arranged a trip on the Ernakulam-Angamaly MEMU with the support of the railway authorities. Till then, children from the St Stephen’s LP School, located eight kms from Muvattupuzha and over 60 kms from here, had only seen “long buses one after the other running on the tracks” only in cinemas and in social studies text books.
It was the idea of headmistress Sister Noble SVM and Arabic teacher K M Shameer to have a different study tour this time around rather than visiting the usual spots of Veegaland and Athirapally waterfalls. “Since ours is a hilly area and far from here, most of the kids have never seen a real train till now. We planned the study trip which would help them to know more about the common man’s transportation mode. The suggestion got approved in the Parent teachers meeting. Later the railway authorities including Area Manager R Harikrishnan offered all support,” said Sister Noble.
“This one-day tour will be etched in our memories forever. Now we know about how a MEMU train can speed up quickly and how an engine could pull on so many coaches. For us this was a great trip though the children in cities are very used to travel in trains,” said Ayana Sateesh of Class IV A, one of the team leaders. The bus carrying students started from the school at 7.30 am and reached the Ernakulam railway station at noon. The MEMU started at 1.10 pm, over an hour late, and reached the destination in 45 minutes. “Our initiative will encourage more schools to plan such a tour for students. We will roll out a special school magazine this year, covering the trip,” said Shameer.
