In his famous poem Sonar Tori (golden boat), Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore wrote, “Oh to what foreign land do you sail? Come to the bank and moor your boat for a while....”. Now, a different kind of “golden boat” is all set to “sail” when Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee travels in a special train from Kolkata to Dhaka on August 7 next month.
The train has been named Sonar Tori after Gurudev’s famous work. It will do a one-time Kolkata-Dhaka-Kolkata run to commemorate Gurudev’s 150th birth anniversary with the Trinamul Congress chief who would also like to be seen as West Bengal’s culture ambassador on board along with a cultural troupe.
There’s an interesting story behind the naming of this special train. It was to have been initially called “Epar Bangla, Opar Bangla” and Ms Banerjee had unveiled plans to run it in her railway budget speech last year. However, its been rechristened Sonar Tori following a suggestion made by none other than Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself, said railway sources.
Sheikh Hasina, it is learnt, herself wrote to Ms Banerjee suggesting the name Sonar Tori. It was a suggestion that found ready acceptance from Ms Banerjee which isn’t surprising given the cordial relations the two Bangla politicians enjoy. After all, the Bangladeshi leader had carried for Ms Banerjee the famous hilsa fish from the Padma river when she came visiting New Delhi in January this year.
How the number of persons who will travel on board the Sonar Tori and who will be the members of the cultural roupe is yet to be decided, said sources. While a Kolkata to Dhaka journey would normally take eight hours, the special train would take less time, said railway sources.
The train will remain in Dhaka on August 8 and will be making the return journey on August 9, sources added. For now, the train is likely to have about eight or nine coaches though this number can change given that the nitty-gritties of the special train are still being worked out.
Of course, Ms Banerjee is likely to travel in an AC coach.