"Helping is Happiness" - A train bound story
Unlike all Sundays this day the platform was unusually overcrowded. My train was scheduled to reach the station at IST 18.50, but since I reached half hour early I had no other business but to observe the people passing by, their hurried movements, the petty vendors, their small shops and business tactics. This busy charged atmosphere was against my expectation as I thought that being a non working day there won’t be a rush and that’s the reason y I opted a general ticket. But the situation forced me to plan a strategy and I decided to sprint the moment the respective train approach the station so that I can reach the entry door before anyone else and could grab a single seat at window side. There are genuine reasons for why I opt single seat, because I don’t want any one to harness my shoulder to have a comfortable sleep which happens when ever I share the bench seats in the other row, more over it is great to listen to music while enjoying the site scenes, so I love window side lone seats. Soon i realized that my expectations were wrongly placed, I saw the bounded train approaching the station with tightly packed up compartments. It was a dreadful feeling looking into those compartments stuffed with passengers and I knew no sprint can save me a seat so I gave up my strategy but I always knew that getting into a general compartment is like a wrestling match, u have to outperform every competitors to have a firm footing to aboard the train, but Sundays where an exception to this gladiator show.
Any how I muddled through to get into the train and put up myself in a reasonably comfortable space, where I ensured that my sole is firm on the train floor and not over any ones feet. The train has not yet moved, suddenly I felt a push from the other side, and I tried to check the incursion of passengers to my comfort zone which I was sharing with some. But despite this effort, some one seems so deeply interested to invade our zone to place a demand over the little oxygen we had there. And it was a guy of around 18 years old, I tried to block him since there wasn’t an inch to occupy anyone but he pleaded me, “please, can I get into there I lost my wallet, I need to make a phone call" oops... :(” I gave up my challenge and allowed the boy to get in, at first place I thought he was lying but as usual I was again wrong, he lost his wallet, some fraud pick pocketed him. The guy was heading to some college to appear for some selection process, I came to know that he just finished his higher secondary education and is aspiring to join into a leading university. We all were sweating because of the heat generated by innumerable respiratory system occupied in that confined space and the guy was profusely sweating out of tension for he lost valuable documents along with the wallet. Soon the Train moved and left the station, every one over there came to know his misery and flooded him with suggestions and consequences over losing his important documents, soon the guy was the centre of attraction, Old ladies started grieving on behalf of him, every matured heads started showering their advises over him and lectured over the subject “wallet and its safe upkeep”, I even heard some voice from a corner warning him against the scope of fraudulent that can be done with his documents, for sure that put the guy in immense pressure, soon he developed a headache, and he started trembling. I realized that every one are concerned to give free advices but no body really wanted to help this chap as he was so ignorant about the procedures involved in such a situation.
It was at this moment that I planned to pull myself out of the train when it reach next station because it was beyond my toleration level to continue that journey for 3 hours. I conveyed to him that I will be alighting the train soon and gave my piece of free advice, i said him, "its quite natural to miss your wallet and documents and its not a big issue to ponder your mind to this magnitude over that". The next station reached and I alighted, and to my surprise I myself called him to get down as if I have got a genuine reason to ask him to do that (PLEASE NOTE THAT AM NOT AT ALL A PERSON OF HELPING MENTALITY :p). And he heeded my call as he might have thought that i could be a potential savior to him. We both walked straight to the station master and lodged a written complaint there and a copy of which was advised to be submitted at the main station where he was pick pocketed, this was done with in no time and he received an acknowledgement stating that his relevant documents were pick pocketed and he is not responsible for any mischief arising there of.
It was already late for me, time was past IST 20.00., and I walked out bidding adieu to him to catch a bus to continue my journey and while walking alone, the city lane,I realized that if I had left that train with out caring this chap I would not be having this wonderful feeling , i.e. the feeling of happiness arising out of helping a needy person.
