How far do you think railway travel influenced notions of identity and Essay

How far do you think railway travel influenced notions of identity and community in colonial India Give specific examples - Essay Example This is because the railway lines were relevant in the formation of imagined communities especially after the division of India into present day India and Pakistan. The train changed the social relations from that she refers to as concrete lived relations to abstract generalities while it also became a sign of collective identity. Travel through the railway in Colonial India also eliminated individual identities to communal ones which led to the doing away with the held social relations. Therefore, travel through railway lines in Colonial India greatly affected how the citizens identify with each other as well as how the community interacts. In this paper we will discuss the notions of identity in colonial India as affected by travel and transport through the railway line. Our focus will be on how travel through railway led to the growth of a sense of national identity amongst people of disparate regions in colonial India and the raising of the consciousness about the social order in the Indian community. The paper will also make a discussion on how travel by railway in colonial India mobilized the people around one political ideology thus givi ng them a sense of identity as one Indian community. The most everlasting and contribution of European Imperialism to its colonies were through the invention of machines and amongst the most important was the invention of locomotives. The locomotives had the potential to move people and goods from one point to another which had serious impacts on the social, cultural, economic and political compositions and identities of societies. Almost all colonial governments used their superiority in technology to annex and exercise control over the affairs of nations. The colonialists used technology such as construction of railway lines rather than ideologies to further their imperialistic ideals over the colonies.2 These could be through the progress and power