This post talks about a recent experience of mine when I was travelling from Erode to Chennai on May 1, the Universal Labor Day. It was an unplanned trip and so got an unreserved ticket in a day train. If you had ever travelled in an unreserved coach on a holiday, you would better know how it is. You can neither sit nor stand in the same place for more than 45 min.
The combat of everyone’s eyes looking around for any gap, the discomfort of each place where you stand or sit, the densely crowded coach and the typical summer of Tamil Nadu had enough to make me repent for anything I did the whole day.
The train passed Salem junction and the time was around 9.15. I saw a hawker selling ‘vadas’ for 2 Rs a piece. Though I was not interested and not sure of its hygiene, I just thought I would buy as he was old and seemed like financially challenged.
‘Two vadas please’, and I gave him a 5 rupee coin. He served those in a paper and said that he would give the change later. About an hour later, he found me in my new place dozing in the upper berth and returned the one rupee.
On a retrospect of the past one hour:
I tasted that ‘vada’, it wasn’t good and so went near the toilet to find the trash bin and it wasn’t there. I crushed those in that paper and threw it out through the door. By this time, the hawker has moved to the next compartment. Just as I was looking out through the door and the train passing fast across the houses, trees and bushes along the side of track, a few thoughts maneuvered my mind leaving a few behind.
i) Will he return that rupee? Cha, how easily am cheated. It is definitely my ignorance that had led me here. I can even give 5 or 10 rupees to a disabled person, but I don’t want to be cheated by such a person. I am sure he won’t come back to this coach. But what inhibits me from approaching him and asking for that?
ii) My internal conscience gave me a gentle push to ‘step up’ ask him about the rupee. But may be the middle class mentality, which few Tamil cinema directors are good in cinematographing, stopped me from doing it. I just couldn’t imagine getting affronted when I ask him for the rupee.
iii) Be it whatever we study or contribute through work, we are good at delivering only in our comfort zone. The entities beyond our zone (or similar ones) are completely different and I had a strong feel that I don’t know much about those. There is nothing I can do and is this what they say ‘live with it’ attitude? Whatever, I have to move on and so is everybody.
I was thinking that I would forget this whole incident in a couple of hours and just moved to a seat in the upper berth. A short sleep was obvious, but the hawker’s search for me wasn’t so. He found and woke me up and returned that one rupee. I just gave a surprised look at him, and was wondering why I didn’t say thanks. Instead I told, ‘Vadas were good… Just add little more salt’. :)
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Thanks for your time in reading my post. Today is World Environment Day. So try to Save Energy and our Environment. Our Planet needs us now.
