Title - Waiting for toy trains at Metro Museum

A list of items runs along the sides of the small cabin in the Metro Museum at Patel Chowk metro railway station here. It is numbered 1 to 26, barring a few names that are taped over with white paper to indicate that they are out of stock. One item -- 25 Management Strategies for Delhi Metro's Success: The Sreedharan Way – snuggled between item 5 and 6 and written on one of the white strips makes you wonder if the person who drew up the list forgot the number system.Check again, and you find that ‘25' is part of the title of a book written by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's Chief Public Relations Officer Anuj Dayal. For a book that is yet to be launched — the formal launch is this Tuesday — it has already sold a few copies. “It has not even been a week since we got the book, but we have already sold three-four copies,” says Radhika Chauhan, shop assistant at the Metro Museum's souvenir shop.“Toy trains and key chains are the most sought after,” she says, explaining the ‘out-of-stock' sticker on the miniature trains. But her loyalty to the shop she has helped manage for two years comes to the fore as she quickly adds that all 26 items are very much in demand.

The souvenir shop's toy train is the reason; kids press their nose to the glass cabinet's gawking at the miniature marvel on a daily basis. “The trains, especially the ‘push back' variety, have been out of stock for more than a month,” says the curator of the Museum. “We have placed an order with the new vendor,” he says about a product manufactured in Delhi. The book, ‘Journey to Remember', is also in demand, says the curator. “Maybe because the price is slightly lower than the other books,” he professes.

The souvenir shop has items ranging from Rs.4 (a souvenir token) to Rs.10,000 (handcrafted model train) and its list of items grows on a regular basis. Three years ago, it was started as a kiosk selling metro memorabilia, and today it earns more than Rs.2,000 per day.

“It is for people to take away the memory of their ride on the Delhi Metro,” says Anuj Dayal. “We are earning revenue, but that is not the objective. New items are being added every now and then.”

Will Delhi's residents see a souvenir shop in all metro stations like the London Underground? “Let's see, we may expand it later on. After all, the London Underground is 150 years old.”