A man who sees green on his side

Like a regular morning, I cursed my life while getting in to a first class bogey of a Mumbai local train for a 1.5 hr journey to my office. Standing at the gate I could barely move lest I should fall off. After one station, I got a chance to get inside.

Not till then when I had reckoned everything going on as routine (people engrossed in their phones), did I see an extraordinary thing. A man sitting next to where I stood using his iphone with a Bluetooth handsfree in his ear. He was smartly dressed in formals with a elegant pen clung to his shirt pocket. I happened to look into his phone. Something was peculiar. He would tap a WhatsApp chat and wait for 5-10 seconds before double tapping it to go inside. I got curious if this was some new WhatsApp update. But then I looked around and saw his red and white walking stick. I was amazed to see a visually impaired person using touch screen phone and travelling in local like any other person. It didn't end just there. He opened Times of India app and read all top news, checked timing of his return trains, and then replied to his emails!

I couldn't resist going to him and asking him where he resided and where he worked. To which he replied the he was from Ullhasnagar and worked at RBI in Fort (60kms, 2.5 hrs each way). I then told him how impressed I was with him. He again blew my mind off with his reply. He generously replied that he felt lucky to have have all his limbs in place so that he could walk and write. And I thought how stupid I was to have cursed this wonderful life I've got with all senses in place. We always complain about things we don't have without acknowledging the most important things that we have. He was really an eye opener for me who inspired me instead of making me feel sorry for his different ability.