When I passed by Ghum Railway Station after a long time, I wasn’t expecting a perfect picture. But I also didn’t expect to feel this level of disappointment. Watching clothes hung across the railings of a World Heritage Railway Station felt like a punch to the heart.
And the truth is simple:
This is not how a heritage site should look.
Drying clothes is not wrong.
People’s needs are not wrong. But choosing the only UNESCO-tagged railway station of our hills as the place to do it, that shows something deeper. It shows how casually we treat things that carry our identity.
Ghum is not just a station from 1881.
It’s not just old tracks and steam whistles.
It’s a symbol of who we are, what our hills represent, and how the world sees us. Yet today, it looks like a place we have stopped respecting.
And what hurts even more is the reaction: People walk past it without a second thought.
As if this is normal.
As if heritage is something that maintains itself.
As if the UNESCO board is enough to protect it.
It isn’t.
Heritage doesn’t die when buildings collapse. It dies when people stop caring.
I saw what Ghum has become, and it genuinely hurt me – not because the station changed, but because our attitude changed. If we don’t value our own heritage, what message are we passing to the next generation? What will they learn except indifference?
Tomorrow they will treat every public place the same way — because this is what they grew up seeing.
This is not about blaming anyone.
This is not about pointing fingers.
This is about acknowledging a simple truth:
We can do better.
We should do better.
Ghum deserves better.
A world heritage site should not look like an afterthought.
A place that carries our history should not look forgotten.
A station that once brought pride should not look neglected.
If Ghum could speak, it would not ask for luxury – only for basic respect. Only for the dignity it earned over more than a century.
A UNESCO board means nothing if the people around it don’t care. And today, after seeing Ghum, I felt one thing very clearly:
“Heritage is not protected by signs or titles – it’s protected by the people who live around it. That includes me. That includes you.”
Ghum Railway Station deserves more —
not just a title,
not just a board,
but the respect of the people who share its story.
Writes – Bidhan Rai Thulung
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