A few priceless train journeys

 A few of you who were in CBSE board during High School will remember Gandhiji’s Talisman which was in the beginning of every text book –

“Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

Every time I travel in train I think of Gandhiji’s Talisman and I see an interesting side of life. I am sharing a few stories which revolve around train or train stations and have taught me something new during every train journey.

Humility is the most impressive trait

Many years ago, when I was travelling to Bhubaneswar for a High Performance Computing Conference, I was travelling in an air conditioned coach (AC2) with a girl and many other so called rich people. It was the first time I had taken an AC coach. The biggest problems I face in those AC coaches is that people continuously keep talking on their mobile phones and they are either sleeping or eating or talking on phone. They would be always talking about some deals which would be worth billions or minimum a few millions. I remember there was a girl who was fighting with her mother why she booked AC2 and not AC1/First Class coach for her because AC2 was very bad and she didn’t like it. But then I also saw a middle aged guy who was sitting in the side seat and was always very silent, doing everything patiently during that 24 hours journey. When we were about to reach the destination, I asked him whether he knows Institute of Physics (IoP) as he was about to get down in Bhubaneswar. He told us that he is going on the same route and we can join him.

I was still in college so thought it would be good to share the auto and since he knows the route it would be easier to bargain with auto guys. We came out and he told us that he would call his driver and we could go together, he would drop us at IoP. I thought okay. His driver who was very well dressed in a white uniform came to receive us. It was a Honda City car which was supposed to be owned by riches that time. I was bit nervous as I was with a girl and I didn’t want anything wrong to happen. Anyway he didn’t talk much in the whole journey from the station to IoP and when he dropped us inside IoP, he gave his visiting card and told us to contact him if we face any problem in the city and he left. We looked at the visiting card and were completely amazed to see his humility as he was the owner of a very big mill in Bhubaneswar. This is how people who are rich in money as well as heart happen to be. You can always learn how to become rich in money but being rich in heart comes from within and can’t be taught. Recently I have seen humility missing in most of the successful and rich people.

You need not be millionaire to help

A few years ago, my brother was travelling from Delhi to Allahabad in a general coach. He dropped his footwear in the toilet by mistake. He didn’t have anything to wear on feet and was feeling very awkward. Another issue was that he would have to walk barefoot at least few kilometers before he could buy a new pair of footwear. One old man who seemed to be quite poor offered his footwear to my brother. My brother was bit hesitant to take it as it wasn’t that clean and was kind of broken. Another issue was what about that old man, what he would do without footwear. My brother showed his concern and rejected his offer. The old man said, “Son, it would be very embarrassing for you without footwear and you won’t be able to walk without it. But I am used to it and it would be of no one’s concern if I walk barefoot.” When the train reached Allahabad, my brother tried to give old man Rs. 100 and he didn’t accept it at all. There are so many things we can learn in these real life scenarios that may not be taught by those leadership books. There is nothing which could provide more happiness than sharing. It could be sharing anything – sharing happiness, sharing knowledge, sharing those wonderful memories or sharing some part of your luxury.

Perceptions and reality do not always match

When I was working in Chennai I would come to Bangalore quite often as my brother and a lot of friends were working in Bangalore. Of course, Bangalore is also one of the most happening cities. One Friday evening, as usual I took a bus to Chennai Central from Perungudi. After a few stops, a girl in her twenties stepped in the bus. She was in hurry. There were not many people in the bus so she happened to ask me whether that bus went to Chennai Central. I told her that it didn’t but it went to Parrys which was just one kilometer from Chennai Central. She was afraid that she might miss her train. She told me that she was going to Bangalore by Kaveri Express. It was the last train to Bangalore. When I told her that I was also going by the same train, she felt bit relaxed. She asked me whether I can let her know whenever the bus reaches Parrys. I told her to not to worry as it was the last bus stop for that bus.

She was very beautiful and looked quite rich. She was from Bangalore. After a few stops, I noticed one strange thing that she was not wearing any shoes or slippers. I asked her hesitantly and she showed me her broken sandals. The straps were completely torn so there was no way to fix it temporarily. After reaching Parrys we had to walk to Chennai Central. She was walking barefoot. I realized that I had a slipper with me which I carried so that I can use it in train if required. I asked her whether she would like to use my slippers and she said no. Since the roads were quite patchy, she hit some stone by mistake and was about to fall. I asked her again and this time she didn’t say no. After around 15 minutes walk we reached Chennai Central. As we were entering the platforms, she asked me where the ticket counter is. I asked why with an obvious surprise and she asked me, ‘Won’t you like to buy tickets?’ And I had the biggest shock of my life. She didn’t have a reservation. I didn’t dare to ask her why. I told her that I already have reservation. What happened after that is another interesting story to tell some other time. But what I realized was that I had presumed a lot of things. I assumed that she would be travelling in AC coach and even in my dreams I could never think that she won’t have train reservation. Later I came to know that there is ladies coach in some of these trains which doesn’t require reservation.

Sometimes initial perceptions could be very deceptive. My perception didn’t cause any damage to me or anyone else but still I felt that I presumed too much. Whenever we meet someone we make lot of presumptions and some of those perceptions don’t go away easily. Make sure you have some scope for rationale over your perceptions and your perceptions shouldn’t be too rigid to break.

PS: Thanks to Ganesh for his post - The Thirty Rupees Journey which reminded me few of my train related experiences.