Gift to 90s kids: Railways gives green signal to revamp Arasalu railway station into Malgudi station

There are some things from our childhood we never forget. A familiar taste, a place we call home, the games we played, the music we heard and our old friends. Same is the story of RK Narayan's Malgudi days, evergreen. While 'Malgudi' in itself continues to remain fictional, a railway station in Karnataka is set to become 'Malgudi' soon.

Indian Railways have decided to give a green signal to rename the Arasalu railway station to Malgudi railway station. Arasalu railway station, which is 34km from Shivamogga town and is located in Hosanagar taluk, in Karnataka has got the go-ahead from the government to be renamed 'Malgudi.'

But Arasalu isn't just any random train station. It has special significance. This is where director-actor Shankar Nag filmed Malgudi Days movies after the famed television series and therefore Indian Railways decided to rename it to pay homage to the legendary director and actor Shankar Nag. 

Confirming the plans to rename the station, Shivamogga MP B Y Raghavendra said, “There was a demand to name the station after Malgudi Days and the railways has agreed to change it to Malgudi Station.” 

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Along with just being renamed, Arasalu railway station will also have a restoration project, with the South Western Railway investing an estimated cost of Rs 1.3 crore into its development. The old railway station building where the film was shot is in a state of ruination. Plans of turning it into a railway museum are also underway.

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Malgudi Days, written by RK Narayan, was first published in 1943 and the TV show was made using a few stories from this book in 1986 by Shankar Nag, a Kannada film and theatre stalwart. The show featured many famous celebrities from the Kannada film world of those days – Girish Karnad, Vishnuvardhan, Ananth Nag, Arundhati Nag and Vaishali Kasaravalli, to name a few.