Being Indian: the Roads & Rails (Part-II)

Indian Railways: A Peep into India & Indians

The old man in his 80's walks into the bogie with the help of a crutch and another person in the train KCG special. Let's call him uncle. The other person helped him settle down in his seat, just in front of mine, handed him over few essentials for the journey- a water bottle & few biscuit packets. Uncle thanks him & tells there was no need for such formalities. The other person says, it was his boss's order (supposedly uncle's son) which he was following & then he leaves. It was almost sleeping time. I offered uncle if I could make the bed for him, out of good gesture to a man almost my father's age, he refused, indicating he can manage things on his own. After exchanging few pleasantries, we went to sleep. He was going till the last destination of the train, Kacheguda & my destination was just the next morning, much before his, Bhubaneswar.

The next morning, I was just about 30 minutes away from my station and we strike a conversation. Uncle started narrating his story. He lives in Secunderabad, has 2 sons & his wife.

The elder son lives in Jamshedpur, MD of a prestigious company with a working wife. Uncle's wife stays with them from the last few years to get treated for some nagging ailments. Uncle had come to meet his wife and to persuade her to return home with him so that they can live together in their old days. She refused. Uncle couldn't adjust with his son's family - their hectic work schedules limiting any interaction with them but increasing interactions with servants who didn't bother to serve him food at the time he needed (he was very strict about his food timings). So he left them in a week, neither the son nor daughter-in-law could find time to to see him off in the station, so an attendant was sent.

His second son, a techie, lives with his techie wife in Hyderabad. Uncle has difficulty staying there as he wants typical spicy South Indian food which the North Indian daughter in law refuses to cook. And who has the time?

Uncle lives on his own at the mercy of a part time attendant in Secunderabad who comes to deliver him food in the times he wants. Though the food is often cold, but the typical South Indian type he likes.

A peep into uncle's life in that 30 minutes time made me realise the agonies of the neglected old population which is going to be worse in the coming years when we grey.

It also reminded me of the serial "Yatra' by Shyam Benegal in our good old days in Doordarshan which captured the diversity of India & many social issues typical of India that one can see while traveling in Indian trains.

Indeed Indian Railways is the gateway to India. If you want to feel India socially & culturally, you must travel in Indian Railways 🚂🚂🚂