Birthday on board: Varanasi family celebrates son’s special day aboard first Vande Bharat to Kashmir

The Vande Bharat Express now provides seamless travel between Jammu’s Katra and Srinagar. (Image: ANI)

A family from Varanasi chose an unusual setting to celebrate their son’s sixth birthday — inside Kashmir’s first-ever Vande Bharat Express — on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the historic train service to the Valley.

Rakesh and Neha Jaiswal, along with their young son Moksh, marked the special occasion by cutting a birthday cake on board the inaugural Vande Bharat Express as it passed over the newly inaugurated Anji Khad Bridge — the tallest railway bridge in India. The bridge, which towers above the Chenab River, has become a symbol of the engineering achievements associated with the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.

“It was a coincidence that it was our son’s birthday the same day PM Modi was going to flag off this train. We thought we should celebrate our son’s birthday on the first journey of this train so that his birthday becomes memorable for him,” Rakesh Jaiswal told ANI.

His wife Neha added, “This is the best gift for our son... We made this plan because of PM Modi.”

#WATCH | A couple, Rakesh and Neha Jaiswal from Varanasi, celebrate their son Moksh's sixth birthday inside Kashmir's first Vande Bharat express train, cutting the cake as the train reaches Anji Khad Bridge, inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi yesterday.Rakesh Jaiswal says, "It was pic.twitter.com/cr6b3UaI4K
ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2025

A video shared by ANI showed the family seated inside the Vande Bharat Express, singing and clapping as Moksh cut his birthday cake, surrounded by fellow passengers and the backdrop of the inaugural journey. The celebratory moment drew attention online, with many appreciating the gesture that blended a personal milestone with a national event.

The celebration took place on June 6, 2025, the same day Prime Minister Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express from Jammu, following the completion of the 272-km USBRL project. The Prime Minister also flagged off a second train from Srinagar to Katra, further enhancing the region’s rail connectivity.

The Vande Bharat Express now provides seamless travel between Jammu’s Katra and Srinagar, marking a significant milestone in the Indian Railways’ efforts to improve year-round access to the Kashmir Valley. Previously, train services in the region operated only between Banihal and Baramulla in the Kashmir Valley, and separately between Jammu, Udhampur, and Katra in the Jammu region.