The 'Trainy' Lessons
As
a frequent train commuter, whether in the local trains of Mumbai or the long
distant express trains, I spend a good part of my life in trains and railway
stations observing all variety of people, their customs, their mannerisms, their
actions, their reactions; everything and hence the Indian Railway has given me
some of the unforgettable experiences and greatest of lessons of my life.
My
sister, a dancer, participates in many of the dance competitions around the
nation and when she goes, the whole family, including me, accompanies her. This
is the main reason behind most of my journeys. And as sleeper coaches are the
best that we can afford, berths have become more familiar to me than beds.
From
childhood itself I adored travelling and hence I tried my best to never avoid a
trip. These trips always told me different stories about different people at
different places in different times. These trips made me realise that how
insignificant I am in the greater order of things and how significant I can
become if I give significance to the minor things of life. These trips always
helped bring me closer to my own heart as I learned about others so do I learn
about me.
I
always had a taste in the societal demography of an area and as I toured more
and more, I came to realise the existence of more and more factors that
determine the psyche of a society and how this psyche influences the consciousness
of individuals of that society. I came to realise that how myths and traditions
still guide people in following virtuous ethics and priceless values which the
‘modernised’ society of us lost somewhere in the past and are so keen on attempting
to find it again. I realised how foolish the so called modern people are,
including me, to completely forget the treasure of answers we have in the form
of ancient literature and then go searching for the same answers towards West. It
did not escape my mind that how modernisation can be implemented in those ‘traditional’
areas of our nation so that the life of people there can be made a bit easier
at least physically and similarly traditionalising the ‘modern’ areas so that
the people there can lead a peaceful life at heart.
Only
by travelling have I been able to gauge or rather begin to gauge the rich and
prosperous heritage of our nation. I have seen people belonging to almost all
major religions of India, talking varied languages and who have nothing in
common travelling in the same train compartment to a common destination.
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