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“A cloudless day, dusty metro, dilapidated bus-stand roof and an old lady, waiting with her wayward grandson, for their bus”. This could possibly be related to any common scene that happens in everyone's life. Incidentally, I became a part of those hum-drum elements at that bus terminus. The old lady's grandson, irritatingly, was an impish little tot and was totally disquieting. Meanwhile, when the frail legs of the lady drooped her body down to the seat involuntarily, her grandson escaped from her clutches, ran over to the immobile buses and possibly was up to some crazy kiddo-gimmick. Palpably, her tired body was resisting the kid-retrieval operation. Seeing her helpless state, I swaggered onto him, ensnared him up and brought him back to his granny's custody with total dominance. She thanked in a gratitude-rich tone which made me nod for some reason and the child, hopelessly, grimaced to convey the feeling of desperation and bleakness.
Budging over to the next scene will be even more mundane and dreary, if you are still expecting anything close to computers in this article after seeing the title. Irksomely, a bus arrived and not the one that I was expecting. When vexation and boredom had just begun to taunt me, I saw people rushing out of that bus like people freaked out of an earth-quake. Amidst this ruckus, accidentally, I saw a man, in his thirties, limping over with a stick in his hand and groping over the walls of the buses. He was visually challenged. He came straight up to me and asked whether I could take him up to the nearby auto-stand. Meanwhile, the bus, which I was expecting and had no service till noon if I had to miss it, arrived. Snubbing the bus off was my only option at that time. As he introduced himself, it was more of a moral obligation for me to exchange those perfunctory formalities and pleasantries. His name was Ram. The auto-driver in the auto-stand demanded Rs.40.Immediately, Ram began to haggle over and said that he could spare just 30.But the adamant driver refused, even after realising that he was visually challenged. Rotating my head around 360 degrees, in search of another auto, could only yield the result in the negative. With a feeling of sympathy notched up to urgency, I gestured at the auto-driver that I would pay the remaining ten bucks. After paying, I asked Ram to get into the auto and said he had to just give him 30. Contently, he slowly moved into the auto and I helped him with his stick. Before leaving, he asked the auto-driver that what made him change his mind to 30.Inadvertently, the auto-driver leaked off the truth and that, unfortunately, made the man furious. He turned on to my side and shouted, “Why should you give him 10 bucks. It’s completely wrong, son. Don’t ever do this to someone else. You thought you can fool me because I'm blind? ".I mumbled, ”Sir, Why should I fool you? I thought I can help you by doing that". He put his hand over mine and said, "Never be sympathetic towards a physically challenged person. It might downcast him totally". Remorsefully, I put my head down and apologised for what I had done. He replied,” That’s ok. Thanks for helping" and the auto vroomed past me leaving behind a camouflage of smoke across the road and a flurry of contrition in me.
Thinking about the incident and prodding my thoughts towards the point of angst, I could see the bus that was supposed to arrive one hour later steering into the terminus auto magically. I got into that bus and in a few minutes the started to move. The auto-stand episode was still lurking through my mind rather uneasily. After a few stops, I found a fervent teenager, getting into the bus stealthily, came right up to my place and sat down on the seat next to mine. When the conductor approached towards our place to get the ticket-fare, he, suddenly, jumped on his heels and preferred to stand near the foot board. Little did i realise at that moment that he was dodging off from buying the ticket. After a while, he opened up his bag, grabbed a book and started reading. Twenty minutes later,” Take out your tickets and your passes. You will be checked by the inspectors at the next stop" shouted the conductor. The chances of getting caught overpowered the stealthiness in him. I could see a million thoughts running through his mind from his sweaty face, nervous movements and fidgety hands. Just before the stop, the conductor eyed on this guy and walked towards him. I was waiting for what he was up to. The boy winced and before he could say anything, the conductor whispered,” I know that you don't have money to buy the ticket. You have been doing this for the past two weeks but I never wanted to disturb you as you were on your way to write your exams. At the next stop, take the other exit before the Inspector sees you without a ticket. Don't take it for granted and always remember public transport is the cheapest among all other means. Don’t misuse or try to cheat it. All the best for your exam and do well". The boy was startled by those big-hearted and benevolent words that the conductor had just articulated. With a speck of shame, the boy stammered, "I could not afford to buy ticket as I hail from a poor family”. The conductor, amiably, said," That's ok. Please make sure you repay your debt to the corporation later when you can afford to". All the passengers in the bus were equally mesmerised by the extreme benevolence and acceptable sagacity of the conductor. The stop came by and I got down after getting checked by the inspector. I turned back to see the boy but could not spot him in that crowd. When the conductor threw a casual glance outside, I spared a smile at him for which he grinned and blew off the whistle. The bus veered past me now, leaving behind the chasteness of the Conductor. I bought some coffee and started to plod along the pavement with my thoughts cribbed in that particular bus.
As I tried to re-frame the scene where the conductor sparked a grin at me, I realised that it was more of a lesson to be learnt than a smile to be cherished about. It was clear enough to me that I acted straight to do something right. But the conductor bent that convention to straighten up several things in the boy's mind and future. A conductor cannot tolerate a passenger who fails to buy a ticket but can endure a poor boy who wants to write his exams. Instead of bullying the child and putting him under his granny's clutches, I could have spent a few seconds showing him around. Instead of tipping off Ram inconsiderately, I could have waited for another auto and sent him off more dutifully. The impact of my help was short-lived. But the conductor's deed must have tapped out the moment of epiphany in the boy and, ostensibly, transcended the horizon of help.
Cutting it short, "The 'What' makes the deed ephemeral, but the 'When and How' of it makes it perennial in the hearts of the receivers".
Special Credits : Mr. Achudhanandhan ( The Conductor )
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kul Bhushan Garg
said:
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... Very well written ,very touching .These are the hard realities of many people's lives . |
