At Peace in Igatpuri - Rambling Through an Old Railway Cemetery
The cemetery is an open space among the ruins, covered in winter with violets and daisies. It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place.� ? Percy Bysshe Shelley The poet could well be describing this Cemetery in Igatpuri which is indeed a quiet place, shaded by the trees in an old Churchyard. Here, lie at peace, railwaymen, soldiers,other British officials and their families. Each had a life, long or sometimes short; a life, young or old; each with a story to tell; each shaping the "Empire" in a way big or small. Complete lives reduced to a few passionate words on a tombstone. T he cracked stones only hinting of exciting or mundane lives. The oldest Stone I could find, dated 1868 for an unknown Ann who was just 31 years of age when she died. She was the "deeply regretted wife of...". This is just three years after the Thal ghat section was opened, in 1865. The church where this cemetery is located was es...