India's railways minister believes the credit for a respite in accidents on the country's disaster-prone network lies with the Hindu god of machines.
| I prefer the American way; sharp lateral displacement of the offending piece of equipment with either a foot or a hammer. |
Laloo Prasad Yadav said at the weekend that the number of train accidents had declined since he installed a "bright new photo" of the god Vishwakarma in his New Delhi office. "Now I pray to him daily. 'You direct me (in running the railways)', I tell Vishwakarma, and so now there are no rail accidents," Yadav said. The last major accident was in June, when 20 people were killed. India has the world's busiest rail system, shuttling 13-million people daily on 108 700km of track. The system has a 1,6-million-strong workforce, making it the world's largest single non-military employer.
| Perhaps I should start praying to the MCI god. Maybe I should sacrifice a goat... |
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