Sound effect comes handy at Charbagh rly station
LUCKNOW: On a visit to Charbagh railway station, one may came across a weird scene—a youth making funny noises, largely resembling to those produces by grey langoors. It’s neither a prank nor is the person mentally unstable. The act is a part of his duty.
Since passenger safety is a prime concern for the railways, Charbagh railway station has a man who can chase away monkeys.
The man Kismat ensures none of the 1.25 lakh passengers who come and leave the station are harmed by monkeys and for this railways’ Lucknow division pays him ₹1.44 lakh per year.
Shivendra Shukla, senior DCM, Northern Railways, Lucknow Division, says monkeys have not been troubling passengers ever since Kismat was deployed. “As of now, there are no complaints of monkey menace on the station ,” he said.
Officials said Kismat was the best option . “We were fortunate that Kismat approached us. He can copy the langoor’s voice so well that just by producing the sound, he can keep the monkeys out of the station ,” said an NR official.
Kismat earlier owned a langoor and was in monkey scaring business. But he had to leave his pet in the jungle. “It was the only source of income for me . Then I decided to copy his voice,” said Kismat.
He said after practising for almost three months, he mastered the voice of the langoor. Then he approached the Railways and finally bagged the job of scaring away the monkeys.
Kismat’s appointment made a huge difference.
“Cases of monkey bites were very frequent. But from the very first day of his appointment the scenario began to change,” said an officer at Charbagh station. Kismat’s day begins at 6am. “I start from the circulating areas and then cover all the platforms. Besides, I also keep a vigil on the trees to ensure that no monkeys are around,” Kismat said.