Read till the end u will love this VERY TOUCHING AS WELL AS INSPIRING. GREAT GESTURE BY TWO GUJARAT POLITICIANS TO OFFER THEIR BERTHS TO TWO FELLOW PASSENGERS AND THEMSELVES SLEEP ON TRAIN FLOOR . BE READY TO BE SURPRISED AS YOU READ THE FULL ARTICLE !! Once in a while one comes across a good Samaritan. We have all had the experience. But its seldom that we care to write and share the experience. Its mostly that the people who impact upon our lives, even as an experience, are somebody we dont know. Like the one who helps you with changing a flat Tyre, and goes away by the time you change the dickey, or the person who offers a seat in the bus to you as a lady, and is gone before you have the opportunity to thank him. I have experienced this so many times. Its only providential that these good Samaritans enter our lives again in whichever which way, and when that happens it is really that Wow moment to recount and say Ive met him earlier. Here in trailing piece below, is one such recall. Lucidly written, it is an absorbing study of contrasting behavior of men in power. It easy to spot where greatness lies. The author is presently the General Manager of the Centre for Railway Information System, Indian Railways, New Delhi. (leenasarma@rediffmail) 24 years ago It was the summer of 1990. As Indian Railway (Traffic) Service probationers, my friend and I [ both, young ladies then ] travelled by train from Lucknow to Delhi. Two MPs were also travelling in the same bogie. That was fine, but the behaviour of some 12 people who were travelling with them but without reservation was terrifying. They forced us to vacate our reserved berths and sit on the luggage, and passed obscene and abusive comments. We cowered in fright and squirmed with rage. It was a harrowing night in the company of an unruly battalion; we were on edge, on the thin line between honour and dishonour. All other passengers seemed to have vanished, along with the Travelling Ticket Examiner.We reached Delhi the next morning without being physically harmed by the goons, though we were emotionally wrecked. My friend was so traumatised she decided to skip the next phase of training in Ahmedabad and stayed back in Delhi. I decided to carry on since another batchmate was joining me. (She is Utpalparna Hazarika, now Executive Director, Railway Board.) We boarded an overnight train to Gujarat’s capital, but this time it was without reservations as there wasn’t enough time to arrange for them. We had been wait-listed. We met the TTE of the first class bogie, and told him how imperatively we had to get to Ahmedabad. The train was heavily booked, but he politely led us to a coupe to sit as he tried to help us. I looked at the two potential co-travellers, two politicians, as could be discerned from their white khadi attire, and panicked. “They’re decent people, regular travellers on this route, nothing to worry,” the TTE assured us. One of them was in his mid-forties with a normal, affectionate face, and the other in his late-thirties with a warm but somewhat impervious expression. They readily made space for us by almost squeezing themselves to one corner. They introduced themselves: two BJP leaders from Gujarat. The names were told but quickly forgotten as names of co-passengers were inconsequential at that moment. We also introduced ourselves, two Railway service probationers from Assam. The conversation turned to different topics, particularly in the areas of History and the Polity. My friend, a post-graduate in History from Delhi University and very intelligent, took part. I too chipped in. The discussion veered around to the formation of the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League.The senior one was an enthusiastic participant. The younger one mostly remained quiet, but his body language conveyed his total mental involvement in what was being discussed, though he hardly contributed. Then I mentioned Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s death, why it was still considered a mystery by many. The younger man then almost looked away and spoke in a hushed tone almost to himself: “It’s good they know so many things ...”Suddenly the senior man proposed: “Why don’t you join our party in Gujarat?” We both laughed it off, saying we were not from Gujarat. The younger man then forcefully interjected: “So what? We don’t have any problem on that. We welcome talent in our State.” I could see a sudden spark in his calm demeanour. The food arrived, four vegetarian thalis. We ate in silence. When the pantry-car manager came to take the payment, the younger man paid for all of us. I muttered a feeble ‘thank you’, but he almost dismissed that as something utterly trivial. I observed at that moment that he had a different kind of glow in his eyes, which one could hardly miss. He rarely spoke, mostly listened. On the whole, both of them came across truely as extremely civil, learned, amicable and friendly gentlemen. We felt most comfortable in their company. The TTE then came and informed us hesitatingly that the train was packed and he couldn’t arrange berths for us. We were totally dismayed ! Both men immediately stood up and said: “It’s okay, we’ll manage.” They swiftly spread a cloth on the floor and moved down to sleep. Despite our protests and much to our Huge embarrassment, they insisted that we sleep on the berths and they quietly went off to sleep ! What a contrast! The previous night we had felt very insecure travelling with a bunch of politicians, and here we were travelling with two politicians in a coupe, with no fear. The next morning, when the train neared Ahmedabad, both of them asked us about our lodging arrangements in the city. The senior one told us that in case of any problem, the doors of his house were open for us. There was some kind of genuine concern in the voice of the otherwise apparently inscrutable younger one, as he told us: “I’m like a nomad, I don’t have a proper home to invite you but you can accept his offer of safe shelter in this new place.” We thanked them for that invitation and assured them that accommodation was not going to be a problem for us. Before the train came to a stop, I pulled out my diary and asked them for their names again. I didn’t want to forget the names of two large-hearted fellow passengers who almost forced me to revise my opinion about politicians in general. I scribbled down the names quickly as the train was about to stop: Shankersinh Vaghela and Narendra Modi. I wrote on this episode in an Assamese newspaper in 1995. It was a tribute to two unknown politicians from Gujarat for giving up their comfort ungrudgingly for the sake of two bens from Assam. When I wrote that, I didn’t have the faintest idea that these two people were going to become so prominent, or that I would hear more about them later. When Mr. Vaghela became Chief Minister of Gujarat in 1996, I was genuinely glad. When Mr. Modi took office as Chief Minister in 2001, I felt even more elated. (A few months later, another Assamese daily reproduced my 1995 piece.) And now, he is the Prime Minister of India. Every time I see him on TV, I remember that warm meal, that gentle courtesy, caring and sense of security that we got that night far from home in a train, and bow my head. Both of them enhanced my confidence in the Mankind !! Read till the end
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 07:51:46 +0000