Yesterday my wife and I boarded the A1 coach of Chennai Express, 22157, for travelling to my home town, Raichur from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). My wife reminded me of the significance of this train, made famous by the popular 2013 Bollywood film, Chennai Express, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. The experience however was real and not reel.
While our train departed at 22.50 (10.50PM) from CSMT on 1 Jan 2026, incidentally, a relative of mine was travelling to Raichur with his daughter by another train - Nagarcoil express 16339, from CSMT to Raichur, which had departed at 8.35 PM yesterday, 1 Jan 2026. As of now, 9 AM we are still 200 plus Kms away from our destiny and my relative has already reached Raichur, 8.10 AM. This is what has motivated me to write this piece with the heading - “Super-fast’” Surcharge on My Scientific Temper, which I hope will interest readers.
When the Indian Railways is busy launching the sleek Vande Bharat series truly super fast trains, the pace of institutional thinking seems to be stuck in a reverse-throttle.
As someone who has spent four decades in science communication working for the science museums and centres and now serves the National Centre for Science Communicators, as its Vice Chairman, my professional life is meant to be dedicated to the "Spirit of Inquiry." Yet, sitting in Train 22157, my scientific temper is being tested by a spreadsheet that defies the laws of physics.
My train, Chennai Super fast Express, enjoys a legal status that allows the Railways to levy a "Superfast Surcharge. However, a quick comparison with my relatives journey on Train 16339 (a "Standard" Express) reveals a mathematical anomaly, which the science communicator in me finds it hard to make sense.
My "Superfast" train, 22157, officially is supposed to take, 12 hours and 40 minutes and stops 19 times en route, before its scheduled reaching time of 11.20 AM at Raichur. As of now the train is running late by 40 minutes. Contrarily, train 16339, the “Standard" train, by which my relative travelled, has already reached Raichur, taking 11 hours and 45 minutes and stopped at only 12 stations on its route. For the privilege of travelling an hour extra or may be more since my train is running late, and stopping at seven extra stations en route, I paid ₹3,166 for two tickets—exactly ₹102 more than my relatives so called "slower" (but actually faster) train, for which they paid Rs 3064.
In the world of science, velocity/Speed = Distance / Time. However, in the world of the rail-Babu, Speed is apparently an intangible "vibe" for which one must pay extra, regardless of the clock - time it takes.
This brings us to the profound irony of Article 51A (h) of our Constitution. This article, which commands every citizen to develop a "scientific temper," was added during the 1976 Emergency, through the 42nd amendment to the constitution. It was a time when the Preamble was being re-decorated with “Social and Secular” drapery when many of the leading opposition leaders were forced in to the “resting" in state-sponsored lodgings, Prisons.
The genius of this constitutional addition of fundamental duties including scientific temper enshrined in Article 51A (h) is that it is non-justiciable, unlike the fundamental rights, which we all enjoy. It is a "Fundamental Duty" that the State expects us to perform, while the authorities remain exempt from its rigours. Since their pricing methods aren’t justiciable, the Railways can charge a "Speed Surcharge" for a train that is objectively slower without ever having to justify the math in a court of law.
The Babus sleep peacefully, while we, the science communicators, are left to explain to the public why a "Superfast" label is being used as a decorative adjective to extract revenue rather than a promise of velocity. We are living in an era of "Mission Raftaar," yet we are billed for a "Slowness Premium." If we are to truly inspire a scientific temper in our youth, the institutions of our state must lead by example. A "Superfast" surcharge should be a performance guarantee, not a legacy tax.
Until then, I shall sit here in my "Super" seat, inquiring into the spirit of a system where the faster you want to go, the more you pay to slow down. After all, in the grand station of Indian bureaucracy, logic is often the last passenger to board—and usually, it doesn’t even have a confirmed ticket.
Yours truly, a humble science communicator
Shivaprasad Khened
Vice Chairman, National Centre for Science Communicators.
