W/L

One of the favorite lines we often come across in English stories is this "The quiet of the valley was broken by the sharp toot of the train passing by". Most previous visits to Lonavala I could understand what the authors meant.

If one has ever stayed in Lonavala, one can hear numerous trains blowing their horns as they pass by. With small hillocks on either side of the tracks, the sound of the horn echoes throughout Lonavala and is clearly audible even in the day time (even across the busy highways).

On the last visit, the reason for this got cleared up. It so happened that a few of us (co-workers) had to stay in Lonavala to attend some sort of training programme. Since one of them was quite enthusiastic about morning walks, I would go along with the guy (it was rainy season and we had to wear some jacket to cover ourselves). On one of the days we wandered off and on our way back happened to cross the railway tracks. Right in front, there stood the board with the bold letters "W/L". Anyone (connected with the railways) knows what that means. "W/L" is an instruction to the loco pilot (drivers are called pilots in Indian Railway terminology) to "Whistle / Level crossing ahead".

That was the reason for all the trains going through Lonavala blowing their horns like mad. Since there is also a "blind curve" that leads into the railway level crossing, it is all the more important for the pilot to blow their horns. (Its a bit like the blind curve that leads into Grant Road station on the suburban local lines in Mumbai - one of the reason of multitudes of people being run over by trains near Grant Road).

This "W/L" also comes in a Hindi variant. It is pronounced "See / Pha" and is written in the Devnagiri script ("Seethi Bajao / Phatak aa raha hai").