Sri Akhil Chandra Sen was on a journey from his home town once in 1908. Just prior to leaving his home, his wife had lovingly cut a jack fruit and had separated the fruit from the resin and placed them on a banana leaf.
They were inviting alright. Akhil Babu, ate one fruit after the other,
Suddenly he felt a rumble in his stomach. He felt that his tummy was bloated, all because of the gas generated by the undigested jackfruit. He was feeling uncomfortable and desperately wanted to relieve himself. But what to do? There were no toilets in the wretched compartment and he had to hold himself till the next station. In a short while the train screeched to a halt, at Ahmedpur Station. Akhil Babu, rushed to the toilet at the Railway station and was relieving himself, when the guard blew the whistle for the train to leave the station.
Akhil Chandra Sen wrote a letter to the Divisional Officer, Sahibganj Divisional Railway Office, immediately on his return to home.
"I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with lotah in one hand and dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station.
This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honor to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers."
Even today, this letter is considered historic. Any guess as to why this letter is historic? Because, this gem of a letter led to the introduction of toilets in all the compartments of the Indian Railways. It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi.
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