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Hi mate here are my top ten, I am currently writing my own however i have used all these for some level of inspiration. I have also tried to give you breakdown of each novel.World’s Top Ten Dystopian NovelsDystopia can be quite bleak which makes it even seem odd how the genre is so popular today. However, there is always a certain level allure that dystopia holds that can never be experienced with any other genre of novels. Over the years, dystopias have become some of the best novels of all time in literature. This is such a fascinating genre where more and more disillusioned writers are typically telling a cautionary tale by warning us of where our current social, cultural and political surroundings might take us.Typically, all novels in the dystopia world share common motifs. In that, the authors circle around some of the darkest things about humanity with the ideas revolving around mass entertainment, brutality, technology, designer drugs, suppression of the common individual by all-powerful state governments in the dystopian fiction. It’s through satiric irony that the writers have been able to unearth the darkest of humanity and presented a destructive vison of how the future society might be.But like all other genres that have reached skyrocketing heights, there are so many authors that have jumped on to this bandwagon. This makes it quite hard deciding which dystopia novel in the market might be the best one for you. However, you need not worry about this genre being crowded. I will help you weed out some of the gems right from the duds by giving you recommendations so that you can broaden your scope of your TBR list.1.Brave New World by Aldous HuxleyBrief SynopsisBiotechnology is king. The brave new world depicts a society where all the babies are hatched, graded then mind-controlled to accept whatever position they are given in the society. In this case, the alphas are all tall, smart and beautiful while being given the chance to run everything.Alphas are required to work harder as they are designed to be frightfully clever. The betas don’t work as hard but are way better than the gammas. Gammas are stupid and are made to wear green while delta children wear khaki. As if that’s not enough, we have the epsilons who are short and plain. Believe it or not, humans are actually graded in this society.Our hero in this novel is Bernard Marx who is an Alpha but there is something that went wrong with all the mix. He is shorter than most alphas, wilful, more nervous, sexually jealous, and very unhappy. Therefore, he is treated as an outsider in his own community. He and Lenina Crowne pack up for travel to a savage reservation where the Director lost a female companion many years ago.When the two get to their destination, they find people engaging in totally unfamiliar rituals. It’s when they stumble upon Linda and the son John who is also categorized among the savages. Marx assumes that this must be the mentioned lost family that the director talks about. Marx is constantly under threats for his weird anti-social character and still he decides to take the two- John and Linda with him.When Bernard Marx presents John and Linda to the director, John who is the son of the director calls him father. This provokes the director since their society, doesn’t allow procreation between persons. In this case, the director’s crimes are exposed to the world. John is forcefully taken to the ‘Brave New World’ as sort of an experiment while Linda is taken to a hospital for her addiction to soma. Eventually Linda dies and this pushes John to fire up the anti-soma rampage in the hospital hallways.John is so angered by this society that eventually runs away and goes to live in a light house somewhere in isolation. Here, he is able to stay out of the limelight but reporters finally catch up with him as he tries to get involved in self-flagellation. John whips himself and the women around as the crowd gets larger. Still, he continues to take on women.Lenina who had earlier attempted to seduce John appears in the crowd. John furiously attacks her with the whip. But according to the social training of this society, they turn the violence in a sex orgy. John is manipulated under soma to be drawn in more or less unwillingly. When he comes out of the effects of soma the following morning and realizes what he did he commits murder by hanging himself.Critical Analysis of the StoryThe Brave New World is new classic by Aldous Huxley based on a futuristic society that revolves around pleasure while worrying less about moral repercussions. The dystopian future pictured through the ‘Brave New World’ offers a soothing drug soma as well as other pleasures at the same time manipulating them to some A-level mind-numbing dependence.Huxley basically tries to show us some of the negatives of an ostensibly successful; world where everyone seems satisfied and fully content on the outside with lots of carnal pleasures. But, all this is only achieved by sacrificing their freedom in terms of personal personality and happiness.The society here achieves their pleasures through pre-birth conditioning of all members. There are no mothers and everyone is happily content with their pre-destined role while desiring nothing greater that what they already have. In that case, Huxley explores some of the evils that may come with a successful and fully satisfied society. No one in this society can challenge the caste system as they all believe that they work together for a common interest.And when you slip from the norms, you take the soma pill to calm the anger, reconcile with the enemies and be patient instead of bothering with the instabilities and complexities that come with marital relationships and families. No mother, no god, no spouse. You only have the soma, the system and the conditioning to rely on.About the AuthorThe Brave New World was first published in 1932 by Aldous Huxley. Long before that, Huxley had already been established as a novelist as well as a drama critic form his other books. Such included; Do You Want Will in 1929, Point Counter Point in 1928 and Crome Yellow in 1921.Besides that, Aldous Huxley was also well renown by his other great writers of his time which included D.H Lawrence, (Virginia Woolf and E.M Forster) of the Bloomsbury group. Today, this book by Aldous Huxley might be considered as a classic but it has had its share of rejection in the past. Most people criticized it for having a weak plot as well as characterization during the first publication.What makes the book so scary?The Brave New World is a book that depicts a future society where people are more concerned about their pleasures than the moral repercussions of the society. They watch as people get violent and through a drug known as soma turns all that to a sex orgy. Also, all the babies here are hatched, graded then mind-controlled to accept whatever position they are given in the society.Actually, they don’t even have the desire to want more that what they already have. More importantly, there are no mothers like in the normal world and people are actually graded in the society then set apart distinctly. Just imagine, living in such a society, then you are born a Gamma? You’re almost sure that no one would like to relate with you. Such are some of the effects of having a moral free and mind-controlled society.What makes it readable?Aldous Huxley presents his ideas in a fashionable way and clearly showing that he has done enough analysis of the present world. Therefore, his book is not just all about fantasies coming to pass in the future like in any other dystopia novel.He shows a level of admirable intelligence in his prediction of the civilization of humans in the coming centuries. Simply, he mirrors the aspects revolving around our current society in to the futuristic one.2.The Time Machine by H. G. WellsBrief SynopsisImagine taking a trip to the future and finding the entire human race is dead? In the Novel, Time machine by Wells, a time traveller discovers a machine that he uses to travel into the future. Little did he know, he will be traveling to the scariest future of mankind! The unnamed hero travels 30 million years into the future making this a ghost story brought to its logical ne plus ultra.It all starts with the time traveller explaining to his Victorian peers on his plan to travel to the future. The next scene goes to a dinner party where the time traveller eats and cleans up. Afterward, he starts telling his guests, a few from the previous scene, on how he begins telling them about his trip to the future.Wells switches the voice to the narrator himself. And the narrator tells them what he experienced in the year 802701 A.D. The future of the world has changed drastically and he discovers a new viscous being descended from the human race. One of the two tribes, for lack of a better word, is known as the Eloi. They are portrayed by the author as a group of creatures who are peaceful but less wise than the human kind.On the other hand, the Morlocks are more cannibalistic and aggressive of the two tribes. They seem more interesting and the author sounds like he’s comparing them to the rich men, or so I felt. More importantly, the human race is extinct. In addition, all other animals are also non-existent.The future of England is bleak. Unfortunately, the time traveller finds himself trapped in the future. This is because his machine gets stolen. He gets all frantic until he realizes that his machine is locked away in a bronze base that’s nearby. Later, he gives up on trying to free his machine. Before you know it, the time traveller is saving a drowning Eloi. The Eloi’s name is Weena.Weena tags along with the time traveller and he soon discovers the existence of the Morlocks. They seem to be a descendant of the rich men and form the underground machine that supports Weena’s tribe. As he goes for an exploring expedition with Weena, time gets away from him. It gets dark and the Morlocks start to attack the time traveller.The unfortunate part is, as the time traveller tries to fight against the Morlocks, he starts a forest fire that leads to the death of Weena. Heartbroken, the time traveller finds out that the door to the statue is open.The Morlocks try to trap him in their world but he luckily gets away. He travels near the end of the world; a time of cold and darkness. Then he returns back to his own time.Critical Analysis of the StoryWell, to me, the story misses a blast in the past. Though the past might be already known, I think a taste of the past would keep the conversation going. We might never know what the future holds. Each of us has a different story but the past is somewhat known.Still, Wells was an amazing writer and the story has an elegant sense of wonder. The book is a fine adventure tale.About the AuthorHerbert George Wells, born in Bromley England, left school to become a draper’s apprentice. This is a life the writer detested. Afterward, he won a scholarship to join the Normal School of Science. Additionally, he studied with the famous Henry Huxley. Henry saw Wells as the most gifted writer of their time. Wells was known for describing World War I as a war to end the war.Wells lived to see the worst of humanity saying in his own words that reality has taken an example from his books and decided to supersede him.What makes the book so scary?The fact that the future of humankind is dead is what scared me the most. The book literally takes you to the future and you get a vivid picture of what is happening. Since the release of this book, there has been a tone of time travel novels. But none can relate to this classic.The scientific concept of time travel, however, is rather weak but you can’t say whether this writer’s thoughts are true or false. More importantly, imagine the rich and powerful overpowering the entire universe? That’s something that I guarantee you, everyone dreads.What makes it readable?I love the fact that I get lost in the words of Wells is as if I’m the time traveller telling the story. The writer brings to life a concept that most people only imagine about. More to that, it’s something we all want to see; the future.Spice it up with a bit of imagination mixed with the end of humanity and Voila! You get an amazing book that will quench your imagination.3.1984 by George OrwellBrief SynopsisThis novel focuses on a character known as Winston smith who is depicted as an everyman who lives in the Oceania. Oceania is a future state which has a ruling authoritarian political party that controls simply everything. Winston happens to be a member of the lower members of the party as he has a working post in the ministry of truth.Winston works to change the historical information in order to portray the likes of the Big Brother (who is the head leader) and the government. Since Winston is worried about the state too much, he keeps a secret diary that he writes down all his anti-governmental ideas and thoughts. Winston decides to share his thoughts with another guy known as O’Brien who is his co-worker as well as the member of the ruling party.However, Winston feels that O’Brien could be a member of the brotherhood who are the opposition party. That aside, Winston meets Julia at the ministry of truth who is also a party member. Julia sends Winston a note notifying him that she is in love with him. Despite the fears Winston has, he still jumps in the boat and starts engaging in a passionate affair with the lady.In that case, Winston books a room in the neighbourhood where it’s a lower class society. He hopes that they can have their little private affair with Julia here. The two sleep together and afterwards discuss about their hope for achieving freedom outside the oppressive state they are currently live in. afterwards, Winston goes and meets up with O’Brien who confirms that he is a member of the brotherhood. He shares the brotherhood’s manifesto with Winston which is scripted by their leader.The book typically has information about the recitation of the brotherhood including some social democratic ideas. However, O’Brien does this just to test Winston’s loyalty. Winston is arrested at the bookshop by some private police then taken to the ministry of love for torture but he refuses to admit that he was wrong to disobey the government. From here Winston is taken to a room where O’Brien uses his worst fears against him.Winston hates rats and when a box of hungry box of rats are brought up close to his face he pleads to be released. In fact, he pleads that Julia takes his place. The book at the end recounts how Winston once again becomes a valid member of the society. He becomes a broken man who has no power to resist oppression form the government. Although he meets up with Julia shortly after, he no longer cares anything about her. All he does is look up at a poster of the Big Brother is admiration and love.Critical Analysis of the storyOrwell’s nightmare has become so much engrained as part of our consciousness in a way no one expected. Basically, the novel 1984 is a story that shows horrors of political treatise. The book surveys the theme of socialism which is an integral part of the warnings set by George Orwell. As we can see Orwell tries to warn against some of the dangers that are likely to come up when there is a lot of authoritarianism. In this dystopian state, the author offers a very devastating view of the society where there is totally no freedom of expression.The people are actually not allowed to say what they think. Instead, the population here is forced to believe in a single party and a single ideology without any option. In fact, this is a society where language is disregarded to an extend that it is only used to serve the government. The party has actually invented its own language known as the Newspeak that is used as a tool for completely eliminating any forms of political rebellion.For that reason, the party controls everything ranging from what the people, think, speak and even do if they disobey they are taken up for punishment. As we can see, even the colleagues at his work place don’t actually play any roles in the society. They are only there to work for the ruling class of the government officials as they dread the looming punishment if they disobey.In short, everyone who is not part of the ruling class is subjected to the capitalism ruling system. Here in this book, George Orwell simply combines what is known as a thriller narrative with a seriously core political message that unravels the horrors that would come up with political oppression.About the AuthorGeorge Orwell was a novelist as well as a known novelist and critic. Famously known for his books Animal Farm in 1945 and 1984 in 1949. George was a man who has strong opinion all addressed towards the political movements that happened during his time. this included communism as well as fascism and imperialism.Orwell’s book 1984 stirred up a lot of controversies after his bleak vision of a future with a world divided in to three major oppressive nations. All the reviewers of Orwell’s books found the fictional perspective of Orwell too despairing. The main idea of this book was to show the government what the world will turn to be like if they start controlling every single bit of a person’s life even their private thoughts.What makes the book so scary?Would you imagine living in a world where you don’t have the freedom of expression? Oppressive, right? Such is the world depicted in the book 1984. A future where you are actually forbidden to have any private thoughts and everyone is compelled to adhere to only one ruling party and a one ideology.The book brings to us a government that controls even the private thoughts of its citizens and has actually a language known as the Newspeak. This is used as a tool for completely eliminating any forms of political rebellion. Any forms of opposition are punishable through looming torture.What makes it readable?In this book, the author brings to us a wide array of themes in an easy to comprehend way. This is one book that is presented in a simple, short and direct way. In that, its direct to the point and that is actually the reason why it is being studied in most schools worldwide.4.We by Yevgeny ZamyatinBrief SynopsisWe by Zamyatin is a book that has laid emphasis on a character by the name D-503 who is a mathematician. He foresees a future where he will be able to make an integral first ever rocket seen in the OneState. Although he is a superb citizen, D-503 follows all the movements of the table to the letter. He mocks the irregularities of the ancient music while on the other hand praising the rhythms of engines and the human lives that are being basically choreographed from above.Respectfully D-503 awaits the pink tickets of his partner O-90. He is in awe of the subversive verses of the poet R-013. Generally, he lives his life according to how a citizen of OneState is expected to. However, when I-303 enters his life, D-503 is puzzled by so many questions and suddenly his life is thrown to a flux. His virtues and treatise about OneState become hijacked as I-303 mysteriously crosses his path.And when he drags the things happening in OneState in to the equation, he becomes unusually interested in the things happening outside the Green Walls of OneState. D-503 neglects his dreams then change his way of thinking. He is more focused on the ideology that dreams and hopes while believing that happiness is brought forth by lack of freedom.D-503 falls in love with the I-303 who is a leader of an underground movement and they escape far beyond the green wall through a tunnel. Past the green wall, life is different and in the primitive past. However, before long the rebels are all captured and D-503 becomes reconditioned then made to be an unmoved spectator when his beloved one being tortured in front of his eyes.Critical Analysis of the StoryWe by Zamyatin is a book that hovers around fiction and fantasy that is considered by most people as the tragedy of mythic. The novel focuses on a story of a mathematician known as D-503 whose main aim is building the very first integral rocket of the OneState. OneState is the glass city where the story is set and the residents here are perceived to live in Utopia.All they do is rise, work, eat and sleep in their rhythms as they believe that life is synchronized to the minute. All the way from free time, to music, uniforms, humours and everything else the citizens of this State know. They typically live according to the mechanized movements of the clock as well as hyper formalities. Also they live under a regulated existence under a watchful eye of their benefactors.Hence, they are given zero room for imagination or individuality in any case. More to that, the violators of the law in this state are scorned then melted away publicly as everyone watches. But beneath all this severe façade, there is a stirring movement beyond the Green Walls.About the AuthorYevgeny Zamyatin is a Russian novelist, satirist and playwright who has one of the most brilliant as well as cultured minds. He is known for the famous dystopian novel known as We. Besides that, Zamyatin has also written a couple of short stories while criticizing the communist regime of the Russian country.Zamyatin was born in 1884 in Lebedyon and studied naval engineering at school. He died in Paris in 1937, leaving behind his legacy as a serious critic of oppressive governments.What makes this book so scary?This book simply introduces us to a community where people are not given the chance to express any imagination or individuality in any case. Anyone who tries to violate the law in this society is scorned then melted away publicly as everyone is watching. The book simply shows us what an oppressive government in the future would look like.What makes it readable?Since our narrator is a mathematician with much interest for numbers as well as empirical data, this book tries to bring out the nature of the narrator through the ‘dry’ style of writing. And the fact that he has only known the self-censored world, it’s okay for him to use the unfinished and disjointed thoughts to explain his experiences.5.Oryx and Crake by AtwoodBrief SynopsisSnowman, a character in the book, lives in an outdoor setting near a water body with a group of alien entities, Crakers. The Crakers are full of questions and they always bring Snowman one fish every week. In the story, Snowman experiences anger from a man known as Crake. Crake is fond of and still hears the voice of Oryx.As I read on, I found out that Snowman was known as Jimmy. He lived in a compound that belonged to a company known as Organlnc. His father was a geneticist who worked with a lab technician, Ramona.Pigs, known as pigoons, were grown for human organs in the lab and that brought tension in the marriage of Jimmy’s parents. The story continues with the pandemic outbreak that spreads across the earth from every city they marketed the BlyssPluss Pill. Jimmy ends up locking himself with the Crakers in the Paradice compound.Eventually, Jimmy leaves the compound since electricity might run out and he relocates to the beachside park.Critical Analysis of the StoryThe basic structure of the Oryx and Crake story is something we know too well. The book typically bounces back and forth between times that’s just before the collapse of humankind. From the beginning, you will feel that the setting is masterminded by an energetic and sure guide.Although the structure of the story is complicated, the writer never loses the readers and shows them a clear forward path. All through the entire book, the plots turn relentlessly that you might end up feeling breathless. Will Jimmy tell about how the biological disaster was released? How will he survive the starvation, attack from the mutant pigs and injury?But this book lacks the novel set in a dystopian future as the Handmaid’s Tale. All in all, if you love adventure and would like to indulge your brain a little, then this book is the perfect fit for you.About the AuthorMargaret Atwood is an amazing writer born in the year 1939 in Ottawa. She grew up on the northern side of Ontario, Quebec and at the same time in Toronto. She later received her undergraduate degree in Victoria College, University of Toronto.She attained her masters in Radcliffe College. Throughout her writing career, Atwood received numerous awards of honorary degrees. What’s more, she’s written over 35 volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and children literature. She currently lives in TorontoWhat makes the book so Scary?The book introduces us to a future where Biotechnology has taken the wrong route. Additionally, there are creatures that literally attack Snowman but at the same time, the Crakers are more than welcoming. One of the characters deliberately created a super virus that kills. That is because he wanted his super humans to thrive.That’s what I’d prefer calling mad science at its best. As I read through the book, I’m torn between wishing on getting a glimpse of Atwood’s mind and thinking to myself how it would be terrifying. Regardless, this is a wonderful book that you should definitely add to your collection.What makes it readable?The one question that will go through your mind is how can someone create such a fascinating story and at the same time terrifying? You will absolutely love the book. This is her second successful speculation of science fiction. It directly connects to some of the modern day fears and the future it might hold.The ethics behind genetic engineering is still shaky but this book gives it a whole new meaning. You will never go wrong taking a walk through Margaret Atwood’s mind. But be sure of a terrifying experience.6.Fahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyBrief SynopsisFahrenheit 451 is a book that has its plot set across a futuristic society that finds happiness and pleasure in shallow waters. In that, people in this society achieve their pleasures from what look like wall-sized TV screens as well as small meaningless talk. In this society, it’s more of a sin to think and things like books which are depicted as the vehicles of new and different ideas are banned in this society.And to accomplish their mission to eradicate books, these society uses diverse firearms to burn down any traces of books that are still intact. The story takes a turn where one of the fireman’s known as Guy Montag starts to wonder why their society is burning down books. This is after Montag meets a carefree lady who has the balls to ask people around and most specifically Montag if they are happy with what is happening.Eventually, Montag develops the habit of rescuing as well as stealing books from the fires. Basically, the story tries to show us what can happen when we live in a society that is mentally stagnant. Just imagine living in a world where you are not allowed to read about the rest of the world since books are outlawed in the society no matter their themes.The society is so set back that they don’t even realize when the rest of the world in planning a war against them. They are convinced that the war would be quick taking only a day or two. The society is a slave of entertainment and we can see this clearly from Montag’s wife Mildred who takes pleasure in watching shows on a big screen all day long. Mildred has gone to extents of calling the characters in the show her family.Critical AnalysisFahrenheit 451 is a book that paints a picture of a word where people no longer think for themselves. In such a world, books are seen more of receptacles of individualistic thinking. And since thinking for oneself is such a crime, books are banned in this society. As they believe that thinking for oneself would hurt someone else out there, the people in this society just end up in a hedonistic society.In that what people now call family area the wall to wall televisions as well as the characters that are portrayed in it. A society where teenagers are seen driving cars while trying to kill pedestrians just for the sake of doing so. This is book that more importantly critiques mass establishment that tends to control the entire function of the society. A society with mass misinformation without any trial system.People openly lose their mental faculties and all they do is wait for information to flow from their huge wall to wall televisions. and definitely the information flowing in is already manipulated by the government and therefore most people have lost their fundamental ability to ask a simple ‘why?’About the AuthorRay Bradbury is an American writer who has his works categorized in the horror and fantasy niche. He is best known for his novels Fahrenheit 451, the Martial chronicles, The Illustrated Man. His best known novel is the Fahrenheit 451 which focuses on a study of the future American Societies in a dystopian study.Bradbury won the Pulitzer back in 2004 and still remains one of the most celebrated authors of the 21st century. Born in august 22 1920 then died on June 5 2012 in Los Angles at the age of 91.What makes this book so scary?This book presents to us a world where people no longer think for themselves and books are depicted as a way of individualistic thinking. And it’s for this reason, all books are banned from the society completely. Is this where our future might be headed?A future where people are slaves of technology to an extent where they refer to characters in the TV as their own family? This books also shows us how the government could easily control a society through misinformation when they become reliant on technology and neglect reading about the rest of the world on books.What makes it readable?This book tries to teach the society a lesson about being enslaved to the modern technology and media. It tells us that we shouldn’t just sit there and watch as our attention smoulder all the way to ashes. At times it’s necessary to extinguish that burning flame of your smartphone and work on restoring values that comes with deep knowledge and real face to face conversations.7.The Giver by Lois LowryBrief SynopsisIn a world with some of the common problems eliminated, such as global warming and employment, there’s very little hope and love. All these problems are eliminated with a cost; free will, colours, and love. The book is actually about a young lad known as Jonas. Jonas is special.At the age of 11. Jonas was chosen to be the Receiver of Memories which required him to be secluded from the rest of his peers. He was taken under the mentorship of the Giver and taught how to see colours figuratively and literally. All his other friends were assigned jobs. With time, Jonas was able to see that there’s something wrong with their utopia.Critical analysis of the storyLois Lowry wrote an amazing story in this book. As you get to understand the book, you will end up questioning the necessity of control. And at the same time, the consequences of a perfect world. The best part about this book is that the writer was able to successfully create a parallel planet.This book also teaches some sense of morals when Jonas lost the trust of his parents. At the beginning of the book, Jonas was a normal child who trusted his parents completely. However, when The Giver shows Jonas the tape where his father was releasing a new child and the trust is severed.That moment is what forced Jonas to leave the community earlier than anticipated by The Giver.About the AuthorLois Lowry is an American Book writer who has written 45 different and entertaining children book. One of them is The Giver. Born in 1937, Lois is known for her difficult subject matters when writing novels for children.Lois uses The Giver to give the youths a chance to relate to the unusual situations in this book. Even my not so bookish friend was able to connect and understand what is going on. Lois has other books in line and I can’t wait to get my hands on any of her new books.What makes the book so scary?Control is something we all fear for humanity. This book brings out the worst in control. As much as the characters have a better life and the future is so clear, they don’t have a piece of heart. Jonas being able to see what the parents did is a show of the cruelty that mankind is capable of.All in all, this book is good for any child and teaches them not to be control freaks. I don’t know about you but I’d love my kids to take a look at this edition.What makes it readable?If I remember correctly, The Giver was an option to read when I was in elementary school. But since there were limited copies I chose to read another book. And Yes, I’m actually reading this book now.I know the book was meant for kids but once you start flipping the page, I guarantee you that you’ll get glued. Simply put, this book connects to both the young and older readers. Some will hate it while others like me will fall in love with it. But the thought and debate this book inspires is simply undeniable.Have you ever wondered how you would explain colour red, snow or even falling in love to a person who has never experienced any of these feelings? Then you’d be amazed by how Lowry’s style of writing brings out these feeling in 200 pages. That’s true talent right there!8.Divergent by Veronica RothBrief SynopsisThis book circles around the life pf Beatrice who is born to an abnegation family. She lives to uphold all the ideals of her parents despite the fact that she is only allowed to look at the mirror only once per year. More to that, she is outfitted in to the drabbest and plainest clothing. All in all, Beatrice strives to be as kind as the mother, calmer than the older brother and an ideal civil servant like the father.However, despite all this, Beatrice knows that she is different and she doesn’t fit to be part of the Abnegation family. Throughout her life, Beatrice struggles with her emotions as she watches the daredevil chaos as born kids from the Dauntless clan leap and claw from the fast running trains as they go to school. At sixteen, it gets to the point where she has to take the aptitude test and choosing will be done. Although the test results of Beatrice are inconclusive, it happens that she is somehow different from the rest pf the population.In her tests, it is evident that Beatrice doesn’t fall in to present factions. This is because she displays the dominant traits in the Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite. When it’s time to choose, Beatrice chooses the Dauntless clan hence abandoning her family. Beatrice chooses her heart and although selfishly chooses the Dauntless, this is depicted as a very brave act.Later on Beatrice shows interest in being enrolled to the faction. However, this is not a simple choice since there are only ten available spots and the number of people hopeful are double that. She struggles her way through until she gets to the ruthless initiation ritual. At this time, she not only discovers what she is made of but also learns what it really means to be a divergent.Critical AnalysisIn a world that have been ravaged by human fallings, ignorance, lies, aggression and greed comes a new society. And that is from the brink of the apocalypse that humanity has reorganized itself for the future version. Having split into five major factions that tend to live while upholding a common virtue.In the society, the people who believed that the source of their failures is selfish greed formed the faction of Abnegation. Therefore, such people were sworn to serve the needs of other people while remaining selfless. On the other hand, the other lot that believed that their failure and collapse was caused by ignorance were pledged to the Erudite tract made to always thirst for knowledge.More to that, the other lot who feel that its human lies that caused the falling of the world assumed the fraction of Candor and pledges to remain truthful and openly speak their minds. Those who felt that power of hunger and aggression were the roots of failure in the society enrolled to the clan of amity. They take the mantle of peace in all cases.The final group of people were the ones who felt that cowardice was the root source that steamed all their problems flung into the Dauntless clan which was the faction of the strong and courageous.About the AuthorVeronica Roth is an American novelist as well as a short story writer born in august 19 1988. Roth is known for her series of novels; divergent, allegiant and insurgent. Veronica started writing at a very young age as a very avid reader. One of her best reads were the giver by Lowry in 1993 which is also cited as a young adult dystopian.She penned her first book divergent during her winter break as she was in her final years. Insurgent was later released in 2012. This book came in just at the right moment when the dystopian novels niche was picking up so well. And later followed the Allegiant in 2015.What makes this book so scary?This novel pictures the life of a young girl who is about a 16 years old and living in a scary futuristic world. She lives a lonely life in a fortified city with high walls and everyone in the state is required to join any of the five factions in their society.The book simply tries to show us how the future with brainiacs who are depicted as creepy and cannot be trusted might be impossible unlike with the brave people.What makes it readable?This book is ideal for the young teenagers as it revolves the themes around a young girl who is made to choose between her family and joining the faction of the brave. It tries to show us that cowardice could be the only reason why you are not moving ahead with your life.9.The Handmaid’s Tale by AtwoodBrief SynopsisOffred, a handmaid in Gilead, serves the commander and his wife. Serena Joy, the wife of the commander, is a former gospel singer and has always advocated for ‘traditional values’. In this book, there is a dangerously low rate of reproduction. That is why Handmaids are forced to bear children for some of the elite couples who might have trouble conceiving.More to that, Offred is not the narrator’s original name. Every handmaid’s name starts with the word ‘Of’ which is then followed by the commander’s name. In every month, when it’s the right time in Offred’s menstrual cycle, she must have wordless sex with the commander as Serena sits behind her.Additionally, Offred’s freedom is restricted just like any other women in the story. She only leaves the house when going shopping and her room’s door is should not be completely shut. On top of that, Gilead’s police watch her every public move.Critical analysis of the storyThis book brings out some of the challenges women face on a daily basis. I won’t pretend to understand what women go through. Hell, most people have been doing that same thing for years.In the novel, Offred notices a phrase that’s always on the bedpost of the commander’s bed. ‘Nolite te bastardes carborundorum’. As the novel drifts into chaos, she realizes that the phrase means ‘don’t let the bastards grind you down’. Atwood published this book in 1985 in view of what will happen in the future.About the AuthorFrom the previous book, I know you now have an understanding of who Margaret Atwood is. This book received a lot of criticism in its release with most people arguing that it will never happen. However, recently the women rights and all the efforts of making women equally as men are dwindling by the day. The world seems to concrete in the LGBTQA society more since they have a united front.What makes it so Scary?The basic idea that the human race is in danger of reproductions shows to the world what might happen. More importantly, I felt that this story connects more to the female gender and gives the male gender an understanding of what really happens in their day to day lives. Like I said, I really wonder what goes on in Margaret Atwood’s mind but I don’t think it’s something good.She has a twisted yet creative way of connecting to the audience.What makes it readable?As a man, it’s difficult to understand what really happens in a woman’s life. All I can do is stand beside them as they fight for equal rights. That being said, this book gave me a direct connection to a woman’s world. It also showed me the full strength of how bad things can get.The book relates to the modern type of oppression in the female gender. But who knows, maybe if you get the chance to read this book, you might actually change the future.10.Red Queen by Victoria AveyardBrief SynopsisRed queen takes us to a fantasy setting where the world is divided into two groups depending on their blood colour. The silver blooded are gifted with amazing powers (imagine x-men with the abilities of Dracula) and live in pure luxury. On the other hand, the red-blooded suffer from extreme levels of poverty. What’s more, they are treated as inferiors by the silver blooded.Mare Barrow, 17-year-old Red girl, discovers that she possesses an ability that not even the silvers have ever seen before. That throws off the book into a chaotic adventure that I’m sure you’ll instantly fall in love with.Critical Analysis of the BookRed Queen is an amazing novel that manages to merge the world of electrifying drama together with science fiction powers. The character of Mare is such a marvel to discover and unravel. She is so much more than what we are left to believe in the beginning. I found myself saying ‘I freaking love this girl’ a couple of times as I read the book.About the AuthorVictoria Aveyard is a young American writer. Born in 1990, Massachusetts, Victoria is known for her Red Queen novel. She developed her interest in writing at a very young age and has been writing ever since.What makes it so scary?The Reds are more or less like the human race we have today. And the idea of oppression is always a concept we are all scared of. Since the Silvers also end up fearing the powers of Mare, they declare her in public the long-lost princess who’s now engaged to the Silver prince.Now, this is the part that kept my nerves on edge. Despite knowing that her life might be in danger if she was discovered, Mare helps a secret organization, Red Guard, to bring down the Silvers. You have to read the book to really understand what I mean.What makes it readable?Victoria writes a compelling story that really captivates the audience. Trust me on this, you will want to read the next book once you start on this series. This novel will get you to care about the characters and play around with your emotions. And that’s exactly what I want in any novel.

Dear Australian Immigration Aspirant,I first entered Australia on Higher Education Student Visa (Subclass 573) on 4th March 2007 to pursue Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at one of the Group of Eight [Go8] Universities (elite public varsities in Australia primary focused on state-of-the-art research with each one these Go8 universities ranked among Top 150 universities in the World) named The University of Western Australia (UWA) situated in the city of Perth in the State of Western Australia in Australia. Previously, I successfully had finished Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in late July 2006 at The National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Mysuru, India, with the engineering college affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India.Besides, I worked for an U.S. IT firm named Dell Perot Systems in Bengaluru city in India between August and December 2006. To study in Australia, I quit on the IT job because I was knackered with IT coding and programming within 2 months of joining the firm primarily because I could not comprehend computer coding and programming thanks to my ineptitude in IT programming skills. To this day, I wonder how I was offered the position of Associate Trainee Software Engineer by Dell Perot Systems when I succeeded in their campus recruitment processes at NIE in mid-2005 that lacked the component to test a non-IT engineering student’s abilities to write codes using a variety of programming languages available at the time.One of my classmates at NIE Mr. Sudeep Sudhakar who was offered a job with Infosys did not attend their training programme which they commenced for their NIE recruits whilst they were all in the final year of undergraduate engineering studies. Perhaps he attended their training sessions but eventually he did not join Infosys declining their job offer to study Master’s degree (Coursework & Dissertation) in Automotive Product Development at Deakin University located in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Learning about his decision on higher education, I exhorted him if he could connect me with his education consultant in Bengaluru named Mr. Dilip Rai who is the Director of Overseas Educational Services (OES). Mr. Sudhakar took me to Mr. Rai’s office and introduced me to their staff members and Mr. Rai himself. OES staff members helped me quickly flip through the various engineering programmes offered at a number of Australian and New Zealand public and private universities.Somehow I could not shortlist programs and universities of my liking; so, Mr. Rai himself took the pain to advise me Master of Oil and Gas Engineering (2-year, full-time, on campus) program offered at elite Go8 varsity named The University of Western Australia. I agreed to proceed with his chosen program because I believed he is highly educated himself in the higher education Australia and New Zealand business sector, so I should respect his advice to me. Then, a face-to-face interview was arranged between the UWA representative Mrs. Hema Sharda and I at Mr. Rai’s office.The lady flipped through my academic credentials in a hurry, asked a few incoherent questions about my knowledge about the program I chose to study at UWA and what I wish to do after graduation, and how my undergraduate engineering studies so far then were apposite to my higher education study plans at UWA. I could not answer her incoherent questions about my knowledge about Master of Oil and Gas Engineering offered at UWA and I told her in the face that I struggled to choose a program and varsity that fill the bill in satisfying the higher studies program requirements at various Australian and New Zealand varsities that rely upon a potential student’s undergraduate engineering studies’ weighted average mark ( overall percentage). UWA’s weighted average mark for masters program was 65 percent and my overall percentage is 64.79 percent. She offered me a place to study at UWA with 10 percent fee waiver which could have been 20 percent if my overall percentage in undergraduate engineering studies would have been 70 percent at least.I accepted UWA’s conditional offer of place to study Master of Oil and Gas Engineering. Mr. Rai advised me to start preparing for International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to secure my unconditional offer of place to study Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA to meet UWA’s English Language requirements. IELTS is an English language test jointly offered by the British Council, UK, and IDP, Australia. Mr. Rai told me to the visit the British Council office in Bengaluru to register for the test as soon as possible. As advised, my father (who had accompanied me to Mr. Rai’s office) and I knocked at British Council’s Bengaluru office the same day and I registered for the test through help from British Council staff members. They assisted me with test fee payment instructions, what IELTS test is all about, how best to prepare for the test, and what to expect and what not to expect on the test date at the test venue in Bengaluru.I took with me to my home in the city of Mangalore in India IELTS Cambridge University Study Material offered to me by British Council once I successfully registered for the test through test fee payment. My mother helped me with four test components training; namely, Listening (L), Academic Reading (AR), Academic Writing (AW), and Speaking (S). I wrote the test at the scheduled date, time, and venue. My Overall Band Score was 7.0 on 9.0 scale (sorry I do not remember my Listening, AR, AW, and S scores). I had then met the UWA’s English language requirements of Overall Band Score of at least 6.5 on 9.0 scale with at least 6.0 band score in each of the four components of the test.Once I received my test score, I immediately informed Mr. Rai about my success with IELTS test. He advised me submit the Test Report Form (TRF) once it becomes available to me. Upon receiving the TRF, I submitted it to Mr. Rai who forwarded the TRF to UWA, and within a few weeks I was offered unconditional offer of place to study Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA, starting 12 March 2007. Mr. Rai helped my father and I with Australia Subclass 573 Higher Education Student Visa process. My father expedited Education Loan procedures with guidance from one of his friends working with State Bank of India (SBI), Mangalore Head Office, Mangalore, India, who successfully connived him to agree for the Bank’s terms and conditions to sign up for a loan amount of Rs 19 lakh when my requirement was Rs 17 lakh only.My smart father who did not think twice when listening and acting on his SBI friend’s advice was coaxed to accept Compounding Floating Rate of Interest at 11.50 percent with a provision for 0.5 percent rebate in Rate of Interest if either I (borrower) or father (guarantor) or both of us began paying the Compounded Interest Amount in Equated Monthly Instalments (EMIs) in line with SBI’s education loan repayment procedures. My stubborn father who never listens to his wife’s advice because he is a know-it-all moron refused to accept my mother’s advice to seek education loan at Canara Bank where she could have definitely sought assistance from the Bank Officials to fund my higher education in Australia through Canara Bank Education Loan offered at customer friendly terms and conditions. My mother worked as Kannada language teacher at Canara Girls’ High School in Mangalore, India, and so she smartly encouraged me to avail education loan at Canara Bank because she knew the Bank staff and officials would be more than willing to help a Canarite’s son study abroad through their financial education loan assistance at reasonable rate of interest.But, do Indians husbands listen to their well-educated wives ever? Never! It is an insult for a less-educated man to accept his well-educated wife’s advice because India is a land of bastard men with a patriarchal clout over women, be it any religion. I wholeheartedly supported my mother’s viewpoint because I value and respect intelligent, smart women and their advice. But, I was threatened by my Warren Buffet father believed his gambling skills at the SBI with Floating Rating of Compounding Interest is the best decision he is about to make for his son whom he never respects to be brutally honest. My father threatened my mother and I that if I were to study in Australia at UWA, then I (borrower) must avail SBI’s loan offer that was laced with ridiculous terms and conditions.My father’s SBI friend Mr. Narayan Bhat stopped my father from opting for Fixed Rate of Compounding Interest at 13 percent because he enticed my father that the Interest Rates will unequivocally plummet and will never climb the ladder up in the near future. This convinced my erudite father that we could save on loan repayment amount if the Interest Rates go down the ladder which could save a lot of money to us. We signed up for 11.5 percent Floating Rate of Compound Interest with SBI, finally, with my father beaming with confidence that the interest rates would drop to 7–8 percent soon.My father calculated that he got the best deal with SBI whereas I was wondering why was I born to such an asinine man who despite being 30 years elder to me failed to spot the SBI’s cheating education loan scheme. Anyway, today SBI is the largest Bank in India with biggest thieves working within the bank under the Modi Flag of Honour! So, one would advice your father was wrong and SBI was correct in doing what it did to you and your father. But, I would rebut could a citizen spend his whole life contesting SBI’s interest rate policies at the Indians Courts of Law where even a silly theft case takes at least 30 years to resolve. Without money and muscle power no man or woman can change the corrupt Indian system no matter if you stand all your life on your head.My objective at the time was to educate myself in Australia to improve my employable knowledge and skills in Australia at a varsity of international repute. I was exasperated with Indian Way of Living and Working already and Australia offered the best in education and work that India cannot offer for another millennium no matter either BJP or the Congress call the shots at the Centre in New Delhi. Every Person Is Corrupt In India, including Shri Narendra Modi. Tell me who does not love VIP culture when it is available to you at somebody else’s expense? Try me as the Pradhan Sevak of Bharat and you will see Russian ballets and striptease right in front of the Parliament of India and Rashtrapati Bhavan because my ancestors from India did this in their time and they passed on their knowledge and skills in their genes on profligate living in a poor rich India come what may!After Mr. Rai stupendous rendezvous with Australian Immigration Officials, I was granted my Higher Education Subclass 573 visa by the Australian Government to study Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA, starting 12th March 2007. My batchmate Mr. Yashaswi Rai and I touched down at Perth International Airport early morning on 4th March 2007 with dreams and aspirations to fulfil. 6 months into commencing my studies at UWA, Mr. Yashaswi Rai, I, and my other two housemates Mr. Rahul Thottiyil and Mr. Ankit Mehta, decided to move apart in our directions of choice because Mr. Rai and his other two friends found me alien to their desires and cravings in Australia. They frequented casinos, pole dance A$2 peep shows, taverns, working overtime (more than 20 hours per week allowed), skipping lectures at UWA, flirting with Australian women, binge drinking, and partying day and night with lovely Indian and Australian women, to name a few.They failed to sustain at UWA thanks to their extracurricular activities that subdued curricular activities. I, for one, knew why I had come to Australia, and so I never joined them in their social skills upgrading misadventures because I knew someday they will realize their mistakes when the reality of the world smashes them in their face with their respective report cards. But, guess what, I was proved wrong when I realized my viewing of the reality was skewed when I graduated with Master of Oil and Gas Engineering from UWA on 24th March 2010. Those guys joined MBA programme at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, and went on to successfully finish their degree program with exciting job offers on their way that resulted thanks to their extracurricular activities mentioned above.Whereas, I lived an insipid, boring life at UWA hoping that my hard-work would be recognized and rewarded soon. In April 2007, I handed in in-person my job application (custom-made Cover Letter and CV) to Bureau Veritas-International Risk Consultants (BV-IRC) in Perth in response to full-time, permanent Graduate Reliability Engineer advertisement advertised on SEEK website. BV-IRC had instructed the potential job applicants to apply online, but I decided to act smart and dropped in at their office to submit my job application to the Human Resource Manager in person after I looked up for their office address on Google Map Australia. I successfully submitted my job application at the Reception Desk as instructed by BV-IRC team leader. I thanked them for their cooperation and returned home in Perth.The next day I received a telephone call on my 3 mobile postpaid mobile phone 0430125200 from BV-IRC Team Leader. She advised me to carry my academic records to the interview. She and I had a casual discussion on my academic and non-academic achievements to date. I got to know from her that she was pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA and she was curious to know from me about the Master of Oil and Gas Engineering program. I answered all her questions with up-to-date knowledge I had about the program then. Satisfied with my interview performance she instructed me to visit a psychiatrist for Psychometric Test at his South Perth suburb office.I followed the Team Leader’s instructions verbatim and promptly telephoned the South Perth Psychiatry Clinic to confirm my availability for the Psychometric Assessment Test. This was the first time in my life I heard of such a test but I was excited to write the test because I never fear the outcome of the test. Instead, I focus on what I must do at the test. I Googled a few websites at home and searched for some cues on this test. But, unfortunately, I did not get any practice tests to practise. So, I decided to forget about test preparation and instead focus on my UWA assignments. I was prepared to face the Chin Music Down Under if it turned brutal.At the test venue on the scheduled date and time, I was given 5-minute instructions on test structure that comprised of 1-hour duration paper each on Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning, Cognitive and Visual Reasoning, and Situation-based Questions. The test lasted for 3 hours and I wrote the exam in an examination room with nobody in the room but I sensed I would be watched on CCTV to test my professional ethics. Else, why would you be locked up in a room alone with plenty of empty chairs around that could have been easily either filled or cleared from the test room. My exemplary observation skills helped me judge what I was being judged upon in the test parameters. There was no way I could cheat if I were to because the moment I stepped out of the test room post examination I would have been greeted with Clinic Staff and Psychiatrist’s quiet smirk with no remark on my test performance at the drop of my hat. Everything was so hush-hush secret as if I wrote the test to become an FBI agent! But, sadly, the testing fraternity was not aware of my ability to test the test proving them how easily I could deceive their artifice despite continuous monitoring thought to be unknown to me.The test without distractions in a quiet room, with only a stainless-steel water jar and and empty glass to look at, along with empty chairs around, was a cake-walk experience to me, with no question asked seemed unknown to me. I was surprised the way I could quickly finish the 3 test papers in their stipulated duration one after the other. The psychiatrist himself or some staff member first hand in the first test paper, lock me up in the test room, with an archaic wall clock daring me to finish the tasks at hand while the hour hand dating the minute hand with every minute passing by. I sporadically watched their public romance but tuned in my brain to answer the questions correctly and swiftly. By the time I finished the first test paper, either the psychiatrist himself or one of the staff members would walk in as if they were rushing into the test room unannounced as Secret Service Agent to gun down a dreaded terrorist locked inside the room for an hour!They would take my question and answer booklet, hand in the next sequence of question booklet and answer booklet, which they did in three times in 3 hours. Surprisingly, I was wanting more questions to besiege me so that I could solve them but I was told the test was a finished task at the end of 3 hours and I had to leave the test venue. I enquired them whether I would get to know about the test results to which the psychiatrist told me that I should expect a telephone call from BV-IRC Team Leader who will let you know the results when they become available to her. For the next one month, I followed up with BV-IRC Team Leader e-mailing her from my UWA e-mail address at least twice a week to request her for my Psychometric Assessment results to which she never replied. Later, I gave up on this pursuit because I convinced myself that if I had been successful I would have been invited for another interview which did not happen. So, I stopped my test results pursuit and continued with my UWA studies.Undoubtedly, I was disheartened with the manner in which I was treated by BV-IRC Team Leader but I brushed aside my anger because it was a one-off haphazard incident. I reasoned not to become judgemental on such a random incident because it happened once and not several times. After this incident, I focused only on my UWA studies because I believed my academic grades must not suffer at any cost. Whilst in the 2nd year of my postgraduate studies, during one of the lecture sessions at UWA, I met a gentleman guest lecturer from Wood Group Integrity Management (formerly Ionik Consulting) named Dr. Grahame Strong who lectured us on Pipeline Corrosion Types and their Mitigation and Pipeline Integrity Management Systems Development as part of my Master of Oil and Gas Engineering core units’ completion requirements. During the lecture break, I handed in my CV sans Cover Letter to Dr. Strong who advised me to meet him at the UWA car parking lot adjacent to the mechanical engineering lecture theatre building after the lecture session ended. He and I walked up to his parked car and after talking to me for 45 minutes he instructed me to e-mail my CV I gave him to his e-mail address. He assured me he would see me employed at Wood Group Integrity Management (WGIM) within a month from the day we met to discuss my part-time (20 hours a week) job possibility with WGIM.Within a week of my e-mailing my CV to Dr. Strong, I was invited to closed-door interview with Mr. Stuart Folkard (Principal Materials Engineer) and Mr. David Olsen (Manager). Forty-five minutes into the interview, I was asked a myriad of technical and non-technical questions on both mechanical and oil and gas engineering. I thanked the interviewers for the opportunity and on my way out of the office I thanked Dr. Strong seated in his cabin chair for fulfilling his promise to arrange my interview at WGIM. Within a week, one of my mentors Mr. Mahesh Murthy en route my home in Perth found WGIM letter in my mailbox. He broke out my job offer news which brought delight to my face. Every bloody Indian batchmate was astounded with the job offer I received and they left no stone unturned to take potshots at me together to which I thanked them with my weapons of sarcasm. This casual contract part-time job envied my Indian batchmates who were then struggling to find their first oil and gas job, including my Indian seniors at UWA.I did not bother to pay heed to their nuisance but instead focused on my work at WGIM. But, for some unknown reason at the time, I was forced to do menial, non-engineering, non-productive work at WGIM, whilst others worked happily to earn their salary. I was not happy for A$ 30 paid to me every hour for my meaningless non-engineering, clerical work. But, I did not complain because I believed I must work no matter what work I am asked to do. I did the clerical job as Graduate Mechanical Engineer (proudly printed on my business card handed in to me by my Mr. Olsen) for 4 months that included a month’s job of WGIM’s client Barrick Gold’s cyanide solution storage tank risk-based inspection development program and three-month-long offshore pipeline corrosion risks risk register day-to-day updating for WGIM’s client Chevron Australia’s then 40 trillion cubic feet recoverable Gorgon Natural Gas Field Development Project. Later, my services at WGIM were not entertained and I was not allocated any project thanks to my clerical job. Even the 2008 recession had hit the Perth shores and I waited until 21st February 2008 hoping to get a project work from my employer.But, when my wait was prolonged and unjustifiably unreasonable I decided to put in my resignation papers with false reason that I had successfully finished my Master’s degree at UWA and I was willing to return to India to work in India. I thanked them for their cooperation with a Resignation Letter Template that I copied from some online resource I searched on Google. I deemed it gratuitous to draft and submit my original resignation letter because WGIM work experience taught me nothing but chicanery wherein I was deceived to work for 4 months on no valuable intellectual work but was paid as if I helped WGIM and their clients land their orbiters on Sun as if it were a NASA Space Mission! My venom-spewing Indian UWA batchmates were delighted to hear about my resignation. Probably, they all partied for months together later to celebrate much debacle comparable to Shri Narendra Modi trouncing Mrs. Sonia Gandhi in India General Election in April/May 2014.In November-December 2007 Australian Summer, as per the guidelines of Mr. Mahesh Murthy, I researched on UWA website to see who best could become my Master’s degree thesis supervisor. I duly followed his instructions and I found one professor named Ms. Melinda Hodkiewicz (Phd in Reliability Engineering) whom I e-mailed to seek her appointment to discuss my Master’s degree thesis in a subject germane to Reliability Engineering. She reverted apologizing for her unavailability to meet me in person in her UWA work cabin as she hand her hands full with plenty of work. She refused to become my thesis supervisor because she was already overburdened supervising theses’ of other UWA students. But, she advised me to wait until Dr. Kecheng Shen arrives in UWA from Lund University, Sweden, because he had 20 years of professional experience as a Chinese engineer in the nuclear energy engineering sector. I was wondering how could a nuclear energy expert guide me on an oil and gas dissertation.But, I waited until he finally arrived in end of April 2008. I requested through an e-mail to Dr. Shen for an appointment to meet him in his UWA cabin to discuss thesis options. He was never enthused with my ideas in either Reliability Engineering or Technical Safety Engineering because he was reluctant to become a thesis supervisor to an Indian student whom he called rote-learners. I had already wasted my precious time waiting for this professor to arrive in Perth so that he and I could work on an exciting research-based thesis valued at 32 credit points rather than work on a 16 credit points based bland thesis. But, he behaved weirdly with me that pissed me off but the clock was already ticking and I was racing against time to get my thesis finished somehow. So, I began looking for a 16-credit-point thesis topic reading several books on Technical Safety and Risk Engineering that gave me no leads into researching further on any topic of interest to me. The time passed by with nothing working in my thesis, and so to divert my attention I immersed myself at WGIM work that I was working on simultaneously.I worked well at WGIM but my thesis work was going in round in a roundabout and did inform Dr. Shen about this to which he encouraged me to concentrate more on finding a thesis topic soon. I began spending more time at WGIM work and on other UWA subjects and assignments and showed little interest in completing thesis because I had already prepared myself for an Ungraded Fail grade in my 16-credit-point dissertation. My Indian UWA batchmates were ecstatic with my all round failure both academically and professionally, but I never complained to anybody about their behaviour. I made several attempts to talk openly to Dr. Shen regarding my inability to begin the thesis but he was never present in Perth for face-to-face detailed conversations and discussions. So, I totally ignored my thesis work which was destined to fail no matter how much I tried.6 months into beginning the thesis work on 31st May 2008 with UWA School of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Shen approved topic suggested by my non-functioning brain to Dr. Shen, I was let known on 19th November 2008 that I failed my thesis by one of the UWA School of Mechanical Engineering’s Master of Oil and Gas Engineering Course Administrator. Knowing very well that my submission towards thesis is not a thesis in my view and it will not get approved by the UWA examiners, I had booked my tickets to meet my family in Mangalore in India. I reached my native on 16th November 2008 just to see if my parents and my sister were all well. I was definitely not mentally well because over my years of living in Australia I had faced several failures. My retard father who does not listen to me and does not believe my words was best kept aloof by me to my horrendous experiences in Australia.On 19th November 2008, I disclosed my thesis failure to my mother who convinced me to return to UWA after my holidays in Mangalore which were spent in isolation suffering mental trauma, cold, cough, and fever. A local doctor in Mangalore affirmed I was suffering from High Blood Pressure and I was labelled obese by him. He took me to his gym with instructions given to the gym instructor about how best to reduce my weight. He also gave me some weight loss capsules to eat which I ate whilst I was in Mangalore. I also walked daily to gym, exercised as instructed by gym instructor, and walked back home to maintain my deteriorating health thanks to High Blood Pressure.On 11th January 2009, I returned for Perth on Jet Airways to Bangalore to connect to my Singapore Airlines flight to Perth via Singapore. For some unforeseen reason I had to re-book my flight to Bangalore on Jet Airways because Kingfisher Airlines flight to Bangalore was cancelled on the night I was scheduled to fly. Jet Airways flight stewardesses served me hot chapati distasteful rolls on my flight to Bangalore alongside diabetic Apple juice. With teary eyes, I took off on Jet Airways for Bangalore that landed in Bangalore in an hour. I telephoned my mother that I had reached Bangalore safely and I would proceed to check-in at Singapore Airlines Counter at the Bangalore International Airport in some time.After luggage check-in and security check, I waited at waiting gate chair until the Singapore Airlines flight arrived for boarding. When the flight arrived, I telephoned my mother that I was about to board the flight and I had to switch off my mobile phone. She wished me as always a mother does to her child a happy and safe flight back to Perth, Australia via Singapore. Once I landed in Singapore’s Changi International Airport, I was very hungry. I enquired with the Airport help-desk if there was any Indian Vegetarian Restaurant in the Airport. Then promptly pointed me to Kaveri Restaurant wherein I quietly ate Benne (Butter) Masala Dosa for 5 Singapore Dollars. The dosa was great with lots of delicious butter in it and I also enjoyed my cup of tea for 2 Singapore Dollars that I paid for together at the restaurant’s bill counter.Later, I boarded my Singapore Airlines flight to Perth that lasted for about 5 hours and on 12th January 2009 early morning I landed in Perth International Airport. I reached my home at Victoria Park suburb, telephoned my mother about my happy and safe journey with Singapore Airlines’ best-in-class hospitality. I went to UWA later to talk to Dr. Shen who was now available post my debacle to guide me how to re-do the dissertation. I was surprised with the kind of energy Dr. Shen had in him regarding my thesis work that was totally absent before I failed in my thesis thanks to his deliberate actions. I told him about my India trip and asked his advice on how could I re-do thesis and the procedures to be followed.He enquired if I had some genuine medical reason that I could put forward to the School of Mechanical Engineering to buy time for my thesis re-do work. I immediately told him about me being a High Blood Pressure patient that I got to know from my hometown doctor when I visited him to treat my cough, cold, and fever, then. Dr. Shen told me to contact School of Mechanical Engineering who told me to get tested at UWA Medical Centre. I took an appointment accordingly with UWA Medical Centre wherein I had carried my Mangalore doctor’s prescription and the weight loss capsules he prescribed me for consumption. I had consumed 2 capsules after I returned to Perth but felt nauseating and vomiting, and so I discontinued the medication. I informed this to the UWA doctor who warned me to not take such dangerous medicines that had the potential to melt my internal organs without me knowing about it. I told the doctor that the Mangalore doctor diagnosed me with High Blood Pressure to which she uttered I was perfectly normal and my blood pressure need not be checked.Based upon Mangalore doctor’s and UWA doctor’s opposing diagnoses, I was given a month’s time to re-do my 16-credit-point thesis that is provided 6 months for other UWA students to do it the first time correctly. I accepted the month’s time and for a few days I discussed all thesis re-do work possibilities with Dr. Shen who listened to me only to advice that I must look for something more than what I was looking for. I was already devastated within but I put up a brave face to re-do thesis. Dr. Shen took me for a ride, again, on his roller-coaster. Meanwhile, I had relocated to two of my batchmates named Mr. Akash Patel and Mr. Rahul Malhotra’s house near UWA in the Crawley suburb because the Victoria Park house rental lease expired on 3 February 2009 and did not seek to renew it because the Malaysian owner demanded more rent amount through his realtor per week to which I refused and communicated my decision to not renew my rental agreement with that Malaysian owner.When with Akash Patel at his house, I told him that I will teach Dr. Shen a lesson that he will remember for the rest of his life for cheating on me with my thesis work. I told him that I had e-mailed Dr. Shen with false claims that I had to go to Geelong to meet my ailing aunt who suffered physical ailment due to recent bushfire near her Geelong home. I also told him that a friend of mine named Mr. Suhas who lives in Bangalore will communicate with him using my Gmail e-mail address to whom I had given the power of authority to use my Gmail account. This Suhas was a fictional person whom I gave birth to earlier to tackle my former vicious Mysore (India) based girlfriend Sowmya Vasisht who stalked me online using her false identity as Shravya Vasisht with a ruse e-mail address.For 3 weeks later, I enjoyed my life in Perth doing nothing about my 16-credit-point thesis and avoiding direct contact with Dr. Shen. I communicated with him in the name of Mr. Suhas for a while. During the last week to deadline date, Mr. Suhas (aka I) e-mailed him about my return to Perth from Geelong via Qantas Airways. I met Dr. Shen and told him my thesis was ready for submission. During my free time, I read an investigation report prepared by U.S. Department of Energy on March 2005 BP Texas Refinery Blast. I re-produced the report in my refined English that deliberately hid from Dr. Shen in my first thesis submission.I had deliberately written an Introduction mocking Australian colloquial in the form of questions and answers. I did that to not let Dr. Shen know how good my English was if I were allowed to do my thesis legitimately. I, for one, did not want to waste my English language proficiency drafting a non-existing thesis. Dr. Shen believed my English language skills were subpar and the examiners did mention that in their thesis examination report much to my delight. When people around you cheat, it is your birth right to cheat them back cleverer. That is my way of working best explained in my own words.The reproduction of U.S Energy Department work was destined to be labelled plagiarised and unacceptable to UWA academic standards which was exactly what I had planned for. I did this because nobody in UWA helped me do my thesis, so I wondered why not I too give them a taste of their hospitality served smarter. Today, Dr. Shen and UWA are nailed for their crimes, whereas I come across legally as a dumb student from India who cheated British Council IELTS test to score 7.0 overall band score on 9.0. If confronted, I can pass the blame onto Mr. Dilip Rai of OES who first introduced me to British Council and Mr. Rai was the one who compelled and convinced me to study Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA. This legally ensures neither I nor the British Council is proclaimed guilty. Howzzat for a Googly!Once I was finally given an Ungraded Fail on my thesis, I first decided to pack my bags and leave for India. But, my brave sister and mother encouraged and supported me to fight back at UWA and fox Dr. Shen. My sister advised me to talk to the Dean of School Engineering and I followed her instructions. I first got an opportunity to meet the Associate Dean of School of Engineering who denied me a meeting with the Dean. She tried to convince me how I should take care of my High Blood Pressure health issue by comfortably talking about her ailing grandfather who then suffered from cancer. I listened to her emotional melodrama but insisted I deserve a chance to finish my Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA for which I was given the unconditional offer of place to study by UWA’s Mrs. Hema Sharda.She could not escape my words of wisdom (remember UWA was Seeking Its Wisdom at the time with its Seek Wisdom motto) and she had to relent to my request to give me a chance to meet the Dean. My sister trained me for my end of melodrama to keep pleading with the Associate Dean until I get what I want from the cheat. I was told to return to her office early evening that day of our meeting when she told the Dean had agreed to allow me complete my Master’s degree without the thesis part. Coincidentally, students who commenced Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at UWA in the Year 2009 were given an option to complete Master’s degree without the dissertation option. I deposited A$ 2000 that I had saved from my salary I earned while working for WGIM in Perth. The remaining A$ 8000 was paid to the university by me with the amount given to me by my mother through her savings sent through wire transfer.Accordingly, I requested help from Mr. Akash Patel’s cousin Mr. Mihir Patel who once had to renew his student visa to complete his Master’s degree research thesis. With his permission, I e-mailed the content of Student Visa Renewal documentation process to my sister who worked with my mother round the clock to get the documents ready. I first requested my father for help but he did a shabby work in the name of documentation. He, at the time, forced me return to India, with whatever degree I get from UWA squarely blaming me for the debacle without knowing what happened to me in the Varsity. My sister and mother vehemently opposed my psychotic retard father in his atrocities. My sister prepared all the documents as per my e-mail instructions to her. She took my mother to correct people to get the job done in time. When the documents were ready, she e-mailed them to me without wasting time. Thanks to my sister and mother, I successfully submitted my Student Visa Renewal Application online to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP), Australian Government.The next morning when I opened my Gmail inbox, I had my Student Visa Renewal Request approved by the Australian Government. I immediately informed my sister and mother about this great news and thanked them a lot for their timely help. After all, only a loving WOMAN sister and a WOMAN mother can help you in need. VIXEN girlfriends and VIXEN other women know only to cheat and keep cheating to hide their grave mistakes. I continued with my studies wherein I scored Distinction grade in Oil and Gas Legal Framework (taught by an Australian genius energy industry professional man named Mr. Frank Tudor from Horizon Power) but managed to score only Pass grade in Future Energy (taught by a Chinese rat man whose name I do not know) and Measurement & Control (taught by a Kiwi retard skewed professor named Professor Dr. Brent Young from the University of Auckland). On 8th December 2009, I successfully finished my Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at the University of Western Australia, and I vowed never to return to this University dead or alive in my life.Of course, my mother and sister were jubilant with my achievements thanks to their unrelenting support which saved my future at the time. On 15th December 2009, I singlehandedly (circumventing migration agents and their hefty fees) applied to DIBP for Permanent Resident Visa which was deemed mandatory to work in Australia as Graduate Engineer in the Oil and Gas companies’ Graduate Development Programs. Over the months, I successfully submitted required documents to DIBP who processed my application then. In the meantime, Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) advertised for Policy Officer position at Australian Public Service (APS) Level 5 whose job description and selection criteria encouraged me to submit my application. The selection criteria enumerated that in special circumstances, they would accept applications from applicants who do not meet all of the selection criteria requirements. I was totally qualified for the job advertised but my only drawback was I was an Indian citizen at the time and my Permanent Resident Visa application was under examination.The job selection criteria demanded that the applicant be an Australian citizen at the time of applying. Since the advertisement itself mentioned that RET would accept applications from people in special circumstances, I decided to submit my application to see if I was eligible for special circumstances criteria that allows me work for Australian Government department as an Indian citizen who was willing to denounce his Indian citizenship and undergo vetting to ensure he is eligible to work for the Australian Government. I, for the first time in a long time, was enthused to carefully prepare my application so that my application is considered for the advertised job vacancy’s interview process.On 14 June 2010, I mailed RET hard copies of my application along with supporting documents and information about my pending Permanent Resident Visa application under consideration from the Australian Government at the time. I also informed Australia Post postal status of my application to RET staff that they should expect hand delivery of my application on 17th June 2010 as mentioned on Australia Post website postal status search results. On 14 June 2010, I had also e-mailed RET scanned copies of the contents of my mailed post to them. Once they received hard copy of my application, they acknowledged through e-mail receipt of my postal contents.Over the following days, I waited eagerly to hear back from RET about my application status. Surprisingly, on 2 July 2010, I received an e-mail from my Permanent Resident Visa Case Officer Mr. Kumar Lang from the Brisbane General Skilled Migration Centre that my Permanent Resident Visa was approved. I was happy with Visa approval but I was waiting eagerly to hear back from RET about my job application for Policy Officer position (APS Level 5). I informed my mother and sister about receiving my Permanent Resident Visa approved. They congratulated me and directed me to find a job soon. I told them about my RET application to which they wished me luck. I went to Perth DIBP Centre for Visa labelling as advised by Mr. Kumar Lang wherein the visa labeller labelled my Permanent Resident Visa on my Indian passport and also termed me lucky applicant because I had got my Visa within search a short space of time when other applicants who applied prior to me were still waiting to know their visa application statuses. I told her that I too was surprised with the outcome in 6 months when I was legitimately waiting for the visa decision to be made within 2 years from the date of application. I agreed with her that I was indeed lucky probably because mine was an independent application and was straightforward to process the application to its logical outcome.Nonetheless, I got nothing to hear from RET about my application, and so I decided to e-mail them without further ado so that I do not become the least influential candidates they were looking for the advertised job vacancy. Through my e-mail, I narrated how I could legally become an Australian citizen within a year that met the 4-year residence requirement criterion now that I am surprisingly a permanent resident. To this, RET reverted with a single line e-mail response stating “Australian Citizenship Requirement” criterion which earlier was ready to be waived off when Honourable Mr. Kevin Rudd MP was the Prime Minister of Australia.The Australian Labor Caucus led by Vixen Opportunist then Deputy Prime Minister Ms. Julia Gillard - a staunch feminist fighting for women’s rights (especially my Indian Vixen former girlfriend Ms. Sowmya Vasisht’s rights) - ousted Mr. Kevin Rudd to become Australian Prime Minister which the Australian newspapers aptly termed first of its kind third-world politics in the first-world Australia. Had I been granted Australian citizenship by Mr. Kevin Rudd, then Ms. Sowmya Vasisht’s efforts to ruin my life forever through her influential Indian Governments’ servants and friendly Prime Minister friend Dr. Manmohan Singh and friendly Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s overarching international mafia operations on Australia would have failed to see the light of the day.Feminist Deputy Prime Minister Ms. Julia Gillard was waiting like a hungry vixen to taste the echelons of the Prime Minister’s office in Canberra, and so she readily accepted Mafia Goddess Ms. Sowmya Vasisht’s plans to mortify and punish a noble Prime Minster Kevin Rudd whose only fault at the time was that he was a Mandarin-speaking Prime Minister with his wife having business interests in China. The Australian Liberal Party and the Right-leaning mediahouses were constantly disparaging Mr. Rudd and his family for their China connections, and so Mr. Rudd and his family members were made scapegoats. I watched Australian First Family Man weep profusely in public.I vowed to myself that I will bring down the people who made him and his family members cry. Then, I began my operation to take down the Liberal Party Premiere of Western Australia Mr. Colin Barnett - a UWA graduate - by first submitting my job application to Graduate Officer position with the Department of Commerce, Government of Western Australia. Here, I managed to receive a feeback telephone call from then Department of Commerce Director Mr. Gary Newcombe who taught me the art of preparing custom-made job applications for Australian Government Departments’ and Australian State Government Departments’ and Australian Territories Government Departments’ suitable job vacancies.Armed with Mr. Newcombe’s suggestions, I tried my luck at bringing down Mr. Colin Barnett through my custom-made job application for Department of Mines and Petroleum, Government of Western Australia. But, I did not intend to damage the Department because none of them had troubled me ever, and more importantly Mr. Mahesh Murthy - a Safety Assessor with the Department then - had shaped me as a well-rounded professional up until then pouring his heart out. So, I left Department of Mines and Petroleum, decided to look for some other Western Australia (WA) Government Department. I stumbled upon Office of Energy of the Government of Western Australia during my job search on WA job search website.To seek revenge for Mr. Kevin Rudd and his family members’ public international humiliation using me as a tool taking standing instructions from Mysore (India) Vixen Mrs. Sowmya Vishwachethan, I declared a war on feminist then Prime Minister Ms. Julia Gillard, UWA, and the Australian Liberal Party using WA Premiere Mr. Colin Barnett as my bait. For the first time, I caused tremors in Ms. Julia Gillard’s brazen heart when I named RET and her assistance in granting me Permanent Resident Visa when all I did was seek eligibility test for my RET job application.The Australian Political Weather changed abruptly when 2010 Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) was held in Perth with both Ms Julia Gillard and Mr. Colin Barnett showing their solidarity for each other as if the Tsunami was about to perish Australian politics. Ms. Julia Gillard chaired this meeting, but surprisingly Her Fucking Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (UK) - an old British grandmother of us Indians - took the pain to travel thousands of miles to Perth from London bringing along Honourable Vice President of India Mr. Hamid Ansari with her. Dr. Manmohan Singh, then Prime Minister of India - an University of Oxford PhD - skipped this event much to my surprise. Even Madame Sonia Gandhi did not think it wise to land in Perth for the Commonwealth grandeur. The event ended with all Commonwealth leaders farting on one another over Aussie smorgasbord and the Australian and the world media ranting and raving about Ms. Julia Gillard’s pointed pink feminist nose and their UK grandmother Queen in her knight’s armour shining brightly like the Queen Honeybee! All the while poor Mr. Colin Barnett and his City of Perth residents paid the bills for hosting Ms. Julia Gillard and Commonwealth world leaders.My application for Graduate Officer with Office of Energy was successfully turned unsuccessful on 16th December 2010. Then, I decided to up the ante on Julia and Colin by applying for Office of Energy Manager position. But, then, Colin sent his WA Police to keep a vigil on my movements. Unfortunately, Colin and Julia, were both under the U.S. President Barack Obama’s HAWK EYED RADAR who observed my actions from distant Washington D.C. but ensured my safety in Perth round the clock. No wonder I am thankful and ever grateful to former U.S. President Barack Obama for his unrelenting support and the trust of Americans I had gained up until then. I withdrew my Manager application with Office of Energy to further destabilize Julia and Colin so that they now begin hurting each other. For the first time, Julia realized how wrong she was in her attempts to become Prime Minister of Australia dumping Mr. Kevin Rudd using me as a weapon to ouster him with help from Mafia Goddess Mrs. Sowmya Vishwachethan living lavish married life in India. No wonder this Mafia mastermind Indian vixen is today enjoying her PhD studies in Great Britain at Queen’s expense and hospitality!After I wound up my Australia Politics Destabilizing Operations, I waited for a few weeks into the second week of January 2011 to see if Julia and Colin had anything more to offer in terms of injustice. Simultaneously, I prayed to Goddess Mahakali for her divine protection against the evil who all this time watched from the skies Julia, Colin and Sowmya’s melodrama in Perth, Australia. She decided that my prayers must be answered in such a way that all the guilty do not pay price for their grave mistakes, instead, innocent people of Australia must pay the price for helping keep vixen Sowmya alive in India and Julia alive in Australia. So, Goddess Mahakali surprised me with her mastermind devastating natural disaster that turned the switched on the city of Brisbane at Ipswich in outback Queensland so that even the Queen of Queensland Her Fucking Majesty Queen Elizabeth II feel the terror of natural calamities wreaking havoc in Queensland with the Queen watching the natural godly disaster on her TV sitting calmly in her London’s Buckingham Palace!I had nothing to say but was spellbound with Goddess Kali’s mass destruction abilities to set right things for me that went terribly wrong thanks to Julia, Sowmya, and Colin Down Under. Left-leaning The Sydney Morning Herald journalists, with their identities disguised as local church members with copies of Bible in their shaking hands, rushed to Akash Patel’s Perth home where I lived alone (because Akash was on India Darshan tour) to interview me. I was delighted to learn that finally I was being interviewed about Jesus and Bible by atheists.They asked me several questions about “Apocalypse” pointing to the Bible’s verses but refusing to enter the house as if they feared their death which they thought previously not possible because atheist Julia Gillard was powerful than Jesus herself to negate my prayers to Goddess Mahakali for unrelenting atrocities on me by Julia under the implacable instructions of Mrs. Sowmya Vishwachethan! Lovely! Hope Julia now realizes Gods and Goddesses do exist and they do watch you from the skies and will protect men and women who have been repeatedly wronged by wrongdoing evil men and women like her, Sowmya and Colin.I feel sorry for the poor Queenslanders who got washed in the tide with some locked up in their cars while being washed up. The media team from Channel 9 led by Karl Stefanovic and his female colleague reported the cloudburst at Ipswich, inundated Brisbane River, panicked Queenslanders, poignant Julia and her Team, furious Australian media, and cursing Australians suffer the pain and loss of losing their dear loved ones to natural calamities. Today, I hope Karl and his lovable Australians realize what I, Kevin Rudd, and his family went through when feminist Julia Gillard ransacked my life and Mr. Kevin Rudd’s and his family’s life to avenge Ms. Sowmya Vishwachethan’s pretentious pain in losing the lust (and not love) of her life Mr. Yashwanth Bhat in the Year 2005 thanks to her philandering acts of love-making to Mr. Bhat that he despised vehemently.Soon after the Brisbane Cloudburst and Incessant Rain, I returned safely to Mangalore in India to re-unite with my family. I am unemployed today for unending atrocities on me by Mrs. Sowmya Vishwachethan who with her super-influencing powers has crossed all the limits to TERRORIZE the whole world, and guess what nobody in the World can dare to touch her because she holds the mastermind secrets of how upon her instructions the whole World were made to dance on the World’s stage.In summary, I must congratulate Shri Narendra Modi for his iconic BETI BACHAO BETI PADAO BETI SE APNI GAAND MARWAAO program to protect his girl child Mrs. Sowmya Vishwachethan, her family members, her husband, her children, her in-laws’ family, and her terrorist sympathizers and supporters. Those who wish to migrate to Australia can safely do so because current Prime Minister of Australia Mr. Malcolm Turnbull is neither a feminist nor a misogynist. He is a Prime Minister with balanced outlook towards his life and lives of men and women that matter to him and Australia. I wish you the very best in your Australia Migration efforts. But, after reading my detailed experience in Australia, you might wonder what would Australians now do to cheat Indian women alike Mrs. Sowmya Vishwachethan if they enter to live and work in Australia through the backdoor diplomacy! I sincerely hope you are a responsible man or woman of Indian or Asian-origin who has no history of ever loving your terrorist woman or man of Indian or Asian-origin.Cheers!

Weaving a nation togetherAs a Google Doodle celebrates Indian Railways 160 years on April 16 and Mumbai playing host to the national programmes on railways. Here’s a story of how it all started.If it was trade of wool that prompted the journey of the first ever passenger train in England between Stockton and Darlington in 1825, it was trade of cotton, among other things, that prompted the journey of the first ever train on the Indian sub-continent.Indian Railways, which had a modest beginning in 1853, has since then been an integral part of the nation -- a network that has held together a population of one billion. A self-propelled social welfare system that has become the lifeline of a nation, Indian Railways has woven a sub-continent together and brought to life the concept of a united India.The railways in India are the largest rail web in Asia and the world’s second largest under one management. With a huge workforce of about 1.65 million, it runs some 11,000 trains everyday, including 7,000 passenger trains. The tale of how railway communication gained foothold in India, where the locomotive was once considered as a “fire-spitting demon”, is indeed an interesting one.World premiereThe earliest recorded illustration of a railway dates back to 1320, showing a small wooden mine trolley running in recessed stone guides, possibly originating in ancient Greece.The railway, in its true sense, emerged in the early seventeenth century when the first wooden tracks were laid at Wollaton, England, in 1604 to be used for running of horse-drawn carriages.It was only in February 1804, a good two centuries later, that Richard Trevithick, an engineer, ran the world's first steam engine successfully on rails. The locomotive, with its single vertical cylinder, 8-foot flywheel and long piston rod, managed to haul ten tonnes of iron, seventy passengers and five wagons from the ironworks at Penydarren to the Merthyr-Cardiff Canal. This was, however, a trial run and cannot be termed as first railway passenger service train.In 1821, Edward Pease, a wool merchant, during his travels of buying and selling wool, felt that a railroad with wagons drawn by horses to carry coal from the collieries of West Durham to the port of Stockton would be of great help. The same year, Pease and a group of businessmen formed the Stockton & Darlington Railroad company.However, Nicolas Wood, the manager of Killingworth Colliery and his engineer George Stephenson, had a better idea. They met Pease and suggested that he should consider building a locomotive railway instead. And after some thought Pease did agree.The Stockton & Darlington Railroad was opened on 27 September, 1825. The engine, built by George Stephenson, pulled 36 wagons, including twelve wagons of coal and flour, six of guests and fourteen wagons full of workmen. This has been recorded as the first passenger train in the world.But, this is disputed and some claim the Liverpool-Manchester Railway of 1830s as the first passenger railway. However disputes apart, railway communication gained popularity in the 1830s and since then there has been no backward journey.Evolution in IndiaIn 1846, there was a major failure of cotton crop in America. Following this, textile merchants at Manchester and Glasgow in Great Britain had to seek alternative markets. It was then that traders in the UK turned their attention on the cotton crop in India, one of British colonies then, rich in cotton crop.However, cotton was produced in various parts of the Indian sub-continent and it took days to bring it to the nearest port to transport it to England through ships, the only major means of international communication then. The British then had to build a link from the hinterland to India’s major ports for quicker transport of cotton and other goods as demand soared. This expedited matters for the British to introduce a railway in India.The British also felt that organising and dispersing the growing native population faster deployment of troops could be better handled by a railway.As early as 1843, Lord Dalhousie had first conceived the possibility of opening up of India by means of railway communication. He had proposed to link the three ports of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras by a railway.The same year he sent George T. Clarke, an engineer, to Bombay to assess the possibility. A few years later in 1845, a strong lobby in Bombay supporting railway communication formed a body called the Bombay Great Eastern Railway. As matters started to gain momentum, the Bombay Great Eastern Railway locally prepared plans for constructing a railway line from Bombay to the Deccan. But the British already had a concrete plan in their minds and soon things began to take shape.The earliest proposal for laying railways in India was made some time around in the 1830s. Inspired by the railway mania in England, some eminent citizens in Madras had proposed the idea of a railway but plans remained on paper and the project did not see the light of the day then.Conditions in India were quite different from those in Britain. Many British and Indians, who had a better understanding about India’s topography and geography, opposed the construction of railways as a "premature and expensive undertaking" and a "hazardous and "dangerous venture". Certain opponents doubted the feasibility of introduction of railways in India citing poverty, extreme climate with torrential rains, violent storms, high mountains, sandy deserts and dense forests.But the process of building a railway network that would one day not only captivate the nation but the whole world had already begun.First Railway CompanyThe bill to incorporate India’s first railway company, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company [G.I.P.R] (later it was rechristened as Peninsula), came up before the British Parliament twice. First in March 1847 and later in 1849.In March 1847, the East Indian Company, which then ruled India, opposed the bill on certain clauses forcing it to be withdrawn. Matters dragged on till 1849 when Lord Dalhousie, who had experience in railway matters in England, took over as the Governor-General of India. On August 1, 1849, the Act to incorporate the Great Indian Peninsula Railway came into being.The original contract made on August 17, 1849, between the East India Company and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway stated that the capital of the GIP Company shall be 5 lakh pounds, but can be subsequently increased to one million pounds in case the railway line has to be extended beyond Callian (Kalyan) and across the Thull and Bhor Ghats. The railway line has been referred to as an “Experimental line of Railway” throughout the contract.The first train in IndiaThe line in Bombay was ready by November 1852 and on November 18, 1852, a few engineers and directors of the GIP Company had a trial run between Bombay and Thane. However officially, the first train in India (and in Asia) was flagged off on April 16, 1853, a Saturday, at 3:35 pm between Boree Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane, a distance of 34 kms. The importance of the day can be gauged from the fact the Bombay government declared the day as a public holiday.The train, hauled by three engines -- Sindh, Sahib and Sultan -- carried as many as 400 passengers in its 14 coaches on its debut run. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway had ordered a set of eight locomotives from Vulcan Foundry, England, for the purpose. A suit of Durbar Tents erected at Thane welcomed the first train and a cover for four hundred persons was built with tables laid with menu literally groaning under every delicacy of the season.India had, however, spotted one of its earliest locomotives as early as December 22, 1851. The first steam engine, Thomason, hauled some wagons containing mud and earth during the construction of the Solani aqueduct near Roorkee. The second one, Lord Falkland, named after a Bombay governor, was seen a year later near Byculla, Bombay, doing shunting duties. The third one was used for the trial run of the passenger train in November 1852. And it was only after all this that the much-publicised “official” first train saw the light of the day on April 16, 1853. Wasn’t it a long, long journey before the “official” first train saw the light of day.And since then there has been no looking back.The north, south and the eastBy late 1850, agreements had been signed to prepare trial lines to run inland in Bombay (The Great Indian Peninsula Railway), Calcutta (East Indian Railway) and Madras (Madras Railway).Calcutta, the then capital of India, on the western coast of the sub-continent was also in the race to be first to introduce railway into India. The survey from Calcutta to Delhi for the East Indian Railway was carried out during 1945-46. But the construction of railway line from Howrah to Raniganj was sanctioned only after three years.But fate denied Calcutta the privilege of being the first city to have a railway in India. Locomotive and carriages for Bombay and Howrah were despatched from England almost at the same time. But the ship carrying the loco for East Indian Railway, HMS Goodwin, was misdirected to Australia. The other ship carrying carriages for Howrah sank at the Sandheads.Yet another problem that besieged east India was the dispute over the French territory of Chandernagar (Chandannagar) through which the railway line was to be aligned. The settlement of this dispute with French rulers took considerable time and Bombay won over Calcutta in the railway race.It was finally on August 15, 1854 that the first passenger train in the eastern section ran between Howrah to Hooghly (24 miles). The section is soon extended to Pundooah.In the south, the Madras Railway Company was formed in London as early as July 8, 1845. The shareholders held a general body meeting in February 1846 to construct a railway line from Madras to Arcot , known as Wallajah Nagar.But matters were delayed and the actual construction begun on June 9, 1853. The first train between Royapuram and Wallajah Nagar steamed out on June 26,1856. The Bangalore section was opened an August 1, 1864. Railway lines to Nagari, Raichur, Bellary were completed subsequently,In the north, the first train ran between Allahabad and Kanpur, a distance of 180 km, on March 3, 1859, six years after the first train.The railways then were built on a Guarantee System, which meant that the railway companies were guaranteed a certain rate of interest on its capital investment. The guarantee was to be honoured by the East India Company.Battle of gaugesLord Dalhousie, while formulating the railway policy for India, had suggested that a uniform gauge system should be adopted for the entire Indian Railway network. The gauge, the distance between the two inner faces of the rails of a railway track, selected for India was of 5 feet six inches.Lord Dalhousie had stated that an intermediate gauge between 4'-8 ½" and 7'-0" was the best gauge especially for India which would substantially command all the possible benefits of the latter." The Court of Directors accepted 5'-6" as the gauge for India and the Government of India further confirmed their decision in favour of 5'-6" and in 1851, it was accepted as the standard gauge for the railways in India.An official change in gaugeThe uniformity of gauge was maintained till 1862. But Lord Mayo, the then viceroy of India, was a great enthusiast of the metric system. He encouraged the building of metre gauge lines in India during his tenure. It was seen as a compromise between proposals for narrow gauge for use in areas with limited traffic.It was decided that the subsidiary lines to the main railway system, on which large traffic was not expected, should be constructed on narrow gauge light system and subsequently connected to a broader gauge. Thus, the metre gauge came into existence.Such was the craze of Lord Mayo for metric systems that he even wanted to replace other existing systems in the country, but was prevented by doing so by strong British bureaucracy. In fact, it was his predecessor, Sir John Lawrence, who had initiated the process of laying the metre gauge lines in India, which Lord Mayo took up with such zeal.Now, each time a railway line was proposed in India, fresh controversy over the gauge to be adopted arose.By 1889, the mileage of different gauges was -- broad gauge (5 feet six inches) 8,000 miles, metre gauge (I metre) 5,000 miles and narrow gauge 250 miles.Today, India has four major gauges -- broad (five feet six inches), metre (three feet three inches), two feet six inches (narrow gauge) and two feet (narrow gauge).The Gaikwad Baroda State RailwayIn 1863, just ten years after the first train ran in India, the Gaikwad of Baroda state built a railway, which was of just two and a half feet gauge. Baroda was rich in cotton and following the American Civil war during1861-1865, the Gaikwad decided to grab the opportunity of exporting cotton from his state to the markets in England.The maiden line of the Gaikwad Baroda State Railway (GSBR) was constructed quickly between Dhaboi and Miayagam. The Durbar of Baroda had financed the project. The Gaikwad was in such a hurry to commence the project to export cotton that he employed bullocks -- bullmotives -- as engines to run trains instead of waiting for the actual steam locomotives to arrive from England.In those days, it took days to transport goods from England to India as the only international mode of communication was ships, which followed the time-consuming sea route round the Cape of Good Hope. GSBR’s steam locomotives arrived in India only in 1873. This was the first narrow gauge railway in India.The Darjeeling Himalayan RailwayThe Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, opened in 1880, is an engineering feat. This little railway has a gauge of 2 ft. and a length of fifty-one miles, with steep gradients and amazing loops.Work on building the line began in May 1879, and in March, 1880, the Viceroy of India, Lord Lytton, had a journey on the train. In August 1880, the line was opened for passenger and goods traffic as far as Kurseong, 4,864 ft. above the sea and thirty-two miles from Siliguri. In July 1881, the line was opened throughout to Darjeeling station.On December 2, 1999, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway became the second railway site in the world to be designated a World Heritage site. The railway has been added as a world heritage site with “outstanding universal value” by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.The Nilgiri Mountain RailwayThe Nilgiri Mountain Railway, also known as the Blue Mountain Railway, is a 46-km long 1000 mm gauge railway connecting Mettupalayam (1,069 ft) to Ooty (7228 ft). Its first section up to Coonoor was completed in 1899 by the Nilgiri Railway Company and was extended to Ooty in 1903.This railway has a gradient of 1 in 12 with curves as sharp as 18 degrees. Due to the gradient and the curves, the permanent way had to be built of the Abt Rack type. This means that two steel racks, the teeth of which break pitch, are laid in the centre of the track and are carried by pedestals, which are firmly bolted down to the sleepers. This is the only rack railway in India.Patiala State MonorailIn 1907, the first section of an unusual railway on the "Ewing System" connecting Bassi and Sirhind (6 miles) started in Patiala state. Colonel Bowles, who designed the system, was the state engineer. He was responsible for laying the Patiala State Monorail Train ways. The line was laid for about 50 miles between Sirhind to Alampura and Patiala to Bhawanigarh. The track was a single rail along one side of the road. Today, one can ride this train at the National Railway Museum, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.Railway rajBetween 1854 and 1860, India had eight railway companies – Eastern India Railway, Great India Peninsula Company, Madras Railway, Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway, Scindia Railway, Eastern Bengal Eastern Railway and Calcutta and South Railway Company. In the years between 1869 and 1881, the British government took up the responsibility of laying railway lines in India from the East India Company. And thereafter, things began to move rapidly.Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus/Victoria Terminus - country’s pride, neighbour’s envyThe administrative headquarters of today’s Central Railway, then known as GIP Railway, is presently known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station. Work on the construction of the building, now declared as an Grade-1 heritage structure, commenced in 1878 under the guidance of noted architect Fredrick William Stevens.The building has been considered as one of the finest station buildings in the world and architecturally one of the most splendid and magnificent Italian Gothic edifices existing.Old records mention that some stone work for the building was done by Indian craftsmen and students of the Bombay School of Arts.When the first train ran between Bombay and Thane on April 16, 1853, the place from where the debut train initiated its journey was known as Boree Bunder. It was a small place for the landing of country boats. The original structure of Boree Bunder station from where the first train ran was somewhere near the existing imposing Victoria Terminus station building. To build the new building, land had to be reclaimed from the sea.Work on the building began in May 1878. During the first half of 1879, the foundations for booking and administration offices were considered and detailed estimates for the whole project were sent to the Government of India for a sanction.The cost of the construction of the terminus was Rs 16,35,562. The first ones to occupy the new building were establishments of chief engineer and police superintendent. The booking hall, the station master’s office could not be brought into use for some time initially for want of connection with the municipal sewer.The building took ten years for completion and was officially renamed as Victoria Terminus after Queen Victoria on Queen’s Golden Jubilee Day on June 20, 1887. Today, the terminus has been renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.An all-Indian locomotiveIt was as late as 1895 that India saw the birth of its first locomotive. The locomotive, an F class 0-6-0 metre gauge numbered F-734, was built at Ajmer for the Rajputana Malwa Railway. It weighed 38 tonnes. The locomotive, to be used for hauling mixed trains, was built at a cost of Rs 15,869.This locomotive has outside connecting rods and side rods. It was also used on the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) network. Today, the locomotive has been stored as one of the outdoor exhibits at the National Railway Museum, New Delhi.Electrifying the networkIn 1904, the idea to electrify the railway network was proposed by W.H White, chief engineer of the then Bombay Presidency government. He proposed the electrification of the two Bombay-based companies, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (now known as CR and WR respectively).Both the companies were in favour of the proposal. However, it took another year to obtain necessary permissions from the British government and to upgrade the railway infrastructure in Bombay city. The government of India appointed Mr Merz as a consultant to give an opinion on the electrification of railways. But Mr Merz resigned before making any concrete suggestions, except the replacement of the first Vasai bridge on the BB&CI by a stronger one.Moreover, as the project was in the process of being executed, the First World War broke out and put the brakes on the project. The First World War placed heavy strain on the railway infrastructure in India. Railway production in the country was diverted to meet the needs of British forces outside India. By the end of the war, Indian Railways were in a state of dilapidation and disrepair.By 1920, Mr Merz formed a consultancy firm of his own with a partner, Mr Maclellan. The government retained his firm for the railway electrification project. Plans were drawn up for rolling stock and electric infrastructure for Bombay-Poona/Igatpuri/Vasai and Madras Tambaram routes.The secretary of state of India sanctioned these schemes in October 1920. All the inputs for the electrification, except power supply, were imported from various companies in England.And similar to the running of the first ever railway train from Bombay to Thane on April 16, 1853, the first-ever electric train in India also ran from Bombay. The debut journey, however, was a shorter one. The first electric train ran between Bombay (Victoria Terminus) and Kurla, a distance of 16 kms, on February 3, 1925 along the city’s harbour route.The section was electrified on a 1,500 volts DC. The opening ceremony was performed by Sir Leslie Wilson, the governor of Bombay, at Victoria Terminus station in presence of a very large and distinguished gathering.India's first electric locos (two of them), however, had already made their appearance on the Indian soil much earlier. They were delivered to the Mysore Gold Fields by Bagnalls (Stafford) with overhead electrical equipment by Siemens as early as 1910.Various sections on the railway network were progressively electrified and commissioned between 1925 to 1930.In 1956, the government decided to adopt 25kV AC single-phase traction as a standard for the Indian Railways to meet the challenge of the growing traffic. An organisation called the Main Line Electrification Project, which later became the Railway Electrification Project and still later the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification, was established. The first 25kV AC traction section in India is Burdwan-Mughalsarai via the Grand Chord.The first railway budgetIn 1920, a committee was formed headed by William Acworth, who was a world-renowned authority on railways, to suggest administrative changes in the expanding railway network of the sub-continent.The Acworth Committee consisted of 10 members, all experts either in Railway matters or finance and administration. The committee supported the case for state management of the Indian Railways in their report published in September 1921. The landmark decision about the separation of railway finances from general finances was also the outcome of this report. The railway board was also subsequently expanded to have a financial commissioner, a member in-charge of ways, works, stores and projects, and a member in charge of administration, staff, and traffic.All this eventually led to the presentation of the first ever railway budget in 1925.Another warIn 1939, World War II put the Indian Railways under immense strain again. Locomotives, wagons, and track material were ruthlessly dismantled and taken from India to the Middle East. Railway workshops were used to manufacture military equipment.The partitionIn 1947, the British quit India dividing the nation into two countries, India and Pakistan. As a country was divided, so was its railway system. Two big railway systems, Bengal Assam Railway and North Western Railway, were broken up.A part of the Jodhpur Railway was given to West Pakistan. Much of the Bengal Assam Railway went to the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The Assam Railway was isolated from the rest of the Indian system. Much of the railway infrastructure was damaged in the partition process as violent mobs attacked railway stations and trains carrying refugees.After the horror of partition, things slowly began to come on track after two years. On January 26, 1950, an indigenous locomotive workshop was set up in West Bengal, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW). It had plans to manufacture 120 steam locomotives annually. The first of the successful WG class steam engines (8401 Deshabandhu) was commissioned on November 1, 1950.Getting things organisedIt was in June 1950 itself that the Railway Board put forward a plan to divide the railways in India into six zones to get things organised. However, after some formalities, the actual plan was implemented a year later, by April 1951.On April 14, 1951, the Southern Railway was formed by merging the Madras Railway, the South Marhatta Railway, the South Indian Railway and the Mysore Railway.On November 5, 1951, the Central Railway was constituted by bringing together the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), the Nizam Railway, the ScindiaRailway and the Dholpur Railway.On the same day, the Western Railway was constituted by merging the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI), the Sourashtra Railway, the Rajasthan Railway and Jaipur Railway.The merger of Eastern Punjab Railway, the Jodhpur Railway, the Bikaner Railway and some upper divisions of the East India Railway led to the formation of the Northern Railway on April 14, 1952.Oudh Railway, Tirhut Railway and the Assam Railway formed the North Eastern Railway and the remaining divisions of the East India Railway and the Bengal Nagpur Railway constituted the Eastern Railway on the same day. These were the first six zones of Indian Railways.First exportsIn the late seventees, the Indian Railways, for the first time ever, bagged an export contract for the supply of 15 YDM (metre gauge) locomotives (to be built in Diesel Locomotive Workshop, Varanasi) to Tanzania in January 1976The steam themeWith the advent of high speed electric and diesel engines, the glory of steam was slowly coming to an end. In 1970, the last steam locomotive, Antim Sitara,(WG-10560) rolled out of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works. By late 1973, CLW had put a halt on the production of all steam locomotives.In fact, the oldest working locomotive in India -- built in 1855, two years after the inception of railways into India, -- is still hale and hearty. It is still functional. Titled the Fairy Queen, the broad gauge locomotive, is one of the oldest working steam locomotives in the world. It was built by Kitson & Co. in January 1855. Historical records also state that this locomotive was used by British troops during the Indian uprising of 1857. It was in 1909 that the Queen, having done yeoman service, was taken out of operations. In 1996, the National Rail Museum took up the challenge of getting the locomotive restored in heritage interest thereby making it the oldest working locomotive in the mainline anywhere in the world.The restoration and maintenance work took an entire year and in 1997 began to function as a moving train. An exclusive tourist train for a journey back into time was conceived and the Fairy Queen took its first load of delighted passengers on a maiden restoration run.Much later, it was stored at the National Rail Museum at New Delhi. The Fairy Queen was revived by steam enthusiasts in 1996, and by 1997 it began regularly hauling a tourist train between Delhi and Alwar. The Fairy Queen has found a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for being one of the oldest working locomotives in the world. In 1999, the Fairy Queen bagged the National Tourism Award for most innovative and Unique Tourism Venture. When the Queen resumed operations for 1999-2000, the International Council of Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) also selected the engine as a heritage venture for award at ITB Berlin on March 14, 2000. On January 13, 1998, the Guinness Book of World Records certified the Queen of Indian Railways as the "oldest working steam locomotive.".Rail museumIn 1977, the country’s first railway museum was set up at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. The first of its kind in the country, this unique museum covers a land area of over 10 acres, comprising an elegantly designed octagonal building housing nine display galleries and a large open area laid out to simulate a Railway Yard.With constant emphasis on improvements and additions, the museum can now boast of being one of the finest rail museums in the world and a very popular tourist attraction of the country’s capital. On an average, this museum has around 1,000 visitors daily.The idea of preserving the long and glorious heritage of the Railways in India took root in the year 1932 when it was proposed to set up a Railway Museum at Dehradun. The first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, had also reiterated the idea to set up a railway museum during the Indian Railways centenary celebrations in 1953. But the idea could take shape as late as 1968 when the Ministry of Railways finally took a decision to set up a Railway Museum at Delhi. The foundation stone of the museum was laid on October 7, 1971 and was formally inaugurated on February 1, 1977.Consolidating the networkOn March 31, 1978, the railways were split into nine zones. The Northern zone with its headquarters at Delhi (Delhi junction), the North Eastern zone with its headquarters at Gorakhpur, the North East Frontier with its headquarters at Maligaon (Guwahati), the eastern zone with its headquarters at Kolkatta (Howrah junction), the south eastern zone with its headquarters at Kolkatta again (Howrah junction), the south central zone with its head offices at Secunderabad, the southern zone at Chennai (Chennai Central) and the Central and Western Railways with their administrative headquarters at CST and Churchgate respectively.Moreover, each zonal railway has a certain number of divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. The Indian Railways are today divided into nine zones and 59 divisionsThe Kolkatta Metro is worth a mention here as it is owned and operated by the Indian Railways but does not belong to any of the zones. It is administratively considered to have the status of a zonal railway. The Konkan Railway, running along the western coast of the sub-continent and an example of engineering feat, is the latest one to join the IR bandwagon.Kolkatta metroKolkatta metro railway line, running from Tollygunje to Dum Dum, was introduced on September 27, 1995, exactly one hundred and seventy years after the Stockton and Darlington railway in England. The length of the route is around 16.45 kms and initially ran 106 services. The decision to build a metro railway for Kolkatta was taken to provide an efficient, fast, safe and pollution free mass rapid transit system to the people of Kolkatta. The Indian Railways spent over Rs 1,600 crore for the project, which took two decades to complete. The trains here run on third rail of 750 V DC.Konkan RailwayWork on the line running along the western coast of India began as early as 1964 when a line was laid between Diva and Panvel. It was further extended to Apta two years later in 1966. But then matters got delayed due to political and technical reasons and it was only after twenty years that the route was further extended. The Apta-Roha line was opened in 1986.But after this, things did gain momentum and two years later in 1989, work on the Konkan Railway officially began.After nine years of labour, the Konkan Railway was opened for public and the first passenger train along the picturesque sea route was flagged off on January 26, 1998. At present, the route consists of a single line non-electrified 760 kms from Roha to Mangalore along the western coast of India.Konkan Railway, the largest railway project in this part of the world in the last five decades, threw up a whole range of difficulties technical, financial, emotional and psychological. The rocky Sahyadris had to be bored through, 1,500 rivers had to be forded, a railway line had to be built out of nowhereThe route has India’s longest ever tunnel at Karbude, which is 6.5 km. in length, longer than any other tunnel built in the country before. The route also has a viaduct over the Panval river, a 424m long railway bridge for a single line of broad gauge track, another record.The other important breakthroughs achieved by Konkan Railway are the anti-collision device and Sky Bus Metro.Battle of gauges revived – Project UnigaugeIt all started in February 1971 when the railways announced that all new lines would be constructed as broad gauge only and that the existing metre gauge would be progressively converted to broad gauge so as to achieve unigauge. But the conversion speed was slow due to the non-availability of resources.In 1975, a decision was taken to upgrade the metre gauge system, selectively, as an alternative to gauge conversion. But the break of gauges still hampered development and its advantages could not equal those of broad gauge and failed to attract people and investments.In 1991, a policy decision was taken to expedite the conversion work, which had been progressing at a very slow speed for forty years. Project Unigauge was launched in 1992 and it was made a high priority project. It was aimed at selective conversion of metre gauge/narrow gauge lines to broad gauge in a phased manner based on considerations of capacity requirement, developmental potential and on strategic considerations.Priority lines for conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge were identified from the view of operational requirements and also to help the development of the backward areas.For each route, a techno-economic study was done to determine the approximate cost of conversion and the return on capital. An action plan was formulated for conversion of 13,117 km. of metre gauge/narrow gauge lines out of which 6,000 km was targeted to be completed during the eighth five-year plan and the rest during the ninth five-year plan.Mumbai Railway Vikas CorporationThe Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, a special purpose body, was established on July 12, 1999 in Mumbai to provide safe, reliable and punctual journey for suburban commuters of Mumbai. The Corporation has an equity of Rs 25 crore subscribed by theIndian Railways and the state government of Maharashtra. It is basically a government company that would execute the suburban projects identified under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and other railway projects under its jurisdiction in and around Mumbai.It changed the face of Mumbai when they introduced the new-age Siemens powered violet coloured local trains.Rakesh Mohan CommitteeOne of the recent important developments is the presentation of the Rakesh Mohan Committee report on railway restructuring. The committee has recommend splitting up Indian Railways into an operations and a regulatory body, rationalising fares, closure of unprofitable lines, a corporate approach to finances, manpower reductions, and an aim of privatisation after 15 years.Former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar had accepted a few major suggestions of the Rakesh Mohan Committee report. The first one to be implemented was levying a safety surcharge on railway. A committee, appointed to suggest ways to use the collected safety fund, has recently submitted its report. The panel has recommended using most of the money for track renewal and upgradation. But how much safety would the new fund actually generate still remains to be seen.Moreover, the coming railway budget is said to be a “tough one”.Kakodkar Committee on SafetyThe high level safety review committee of Indian Railways constituted under the chairmanship of Dr Anil Kakodkar has said that the situation of deaths on tracks in Mumbai is grim and needs to be addressed on a war-footing.The report said that the estimate is that almost 15,000 people die on tracks due to unlawful trespassing on tracks every year of which about 6,000 are on the Mumbai suburban section.