Katra, June 8 -- In a touching fusion of devotion, celebration and history, a family from Varanasi marked their son Moksh Jaiswal's sixth birthday aboard the inaugural Vande Bharat Express from Katra to Srinagar on Saturday morning.

The joyous occasion followed their pilgrimage to the revered cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and coincided with the launch of the train and the inauguration of the world's highest railway arch bridge, the Chenab Rail Bridge, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6.

The family, from Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of PM, planned Moksh's birthday celebration to align with the train's crossing of the Chenab Rail Bridge. As the semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express chugged out of Katra at 8:10 am...