India, Sept. 5 -- My grandmother once told me how people in her village reacted when they saw a railway engine for the first time. A huge black machine, roaring and throwing smoke into the air, came rushing past at a speed no bullock cart, bicycle or other familiar form of transport could match. The sight did not inspire excitement. It caused fear.

Villagers ran to the temple, offered flowers and prayed for protection. They feared that cattle would be crushed, people would be killed and village life would be destroyed by this frightening machine. In the story she told, some even began pulling at the railway tracks, believing that removing them would keep the community safe.

Today, that fear appears almost unimaginable. Railways became t...