"Where is your ticket?" , asked the ticket checker at the calicut railway station. He looked like a man in his 40's, with wisdom recondite and abstruse. He had a thick black beard (probably dyed it the previous day) and a scornful look on his face. And when he saw my face twitch he gave me a more contemptuous look that made me timorous.
"I came to drop a friend of mine here”, I replied in a low tone as if accepting a huge defeat.
"Did u check the board at the entrance? You are supposed to buy the so-called platform ticket to get onto the platform?” he retorted back.
"We were very late so we had to hurry, otherwise my friend would have missed the train. So I had to run in and I did not have time to buy the platform ticket”, I answered back cautiously wondering what was going through his mind. How I wished I had the intellectual ability to penetrate into his ideas?
"The usual answer everybody gives. You are no different. Stand-aside while i finish my checking and then I will deal with you" he shouted back.
So as always, when a government official like a traffic policeman or a ticket checker catches anybody, I was also asked to "stand aside". And the immediate thought that occurs to us is -okay now what next? How much cash do you have? How much you should tell him that you have? And finally how much should you give him? What is the maximum he can do? Can he put anyone into prison for not buying a platform ticket... Nah.. Not possible! I believed in the Indian penal code. I somehow felt something was amiss. This guy, for some reason din’t seem to me as a person who is so honest in his work. I feel it’s a rather common feeling that all these government servants are corrupted well from within. These people learn to excel in the three principal ingredients, of insolence, lying, and bribery. But then I just had 50 bucks with me and I had to try all my chances. Coming to think of it not even once have I gone onto a platform without a platform ticket (this was the first time-yes its true!). I felt an inside urge to speak to him about this.
So I approached him and said, "Sir, this is the first time I am getting onto a platform without a ticket. In fact I always advise every one of my friends to take platform ticket whenever they get onto a platform. So I am sorry just forgive me this time alone".
"You don’t have a ticket so you will have to pay the fine" he breathed.
"Sir, I just have 40 bucks with me. How much is the fine?" I asked.
"The fine is Rs 285", he replied. I understood everything that was going on. He too is no different from his cousins. I felt that bribery was a felonious act of extorting money. For a split second I had even thought that not all people are bad and there is still some good left in this world. But then when he said that I just wanted to kill myself for not taking the platform ticket.
Anyway I retorted back, "Rs 285 is too much. For not taking a Rs3 platform ticket i should pay Rs285 is it? I just have Rs 40. I can give only Rs30 because I need 10 Rs to go back."
He had a very thoughtful look and I felt as if he is reading through my mind. But to my disappointment he said," U look like a student, u might have ATM cards and credit cards so go get 285 Rs and come, Meanwhile I will have your mobile phone".
"Sir please I do not have cash in my ATM too. Just take this and leave me", I pleaded.
"What is your name?” he intervened.
"My name is Narendar", I replied promptly.
"Where are you from?", He questioned.
"I am from chennai.", I answered.
"Being a person born and brought up in chennai you are not following the rules and regulations, how will the uneducated people obey the rules?" He asked. I had no reply to it.
"Okay I will forgive you this time but you need to do one thing", he said.
I was expecting for this part of the conversation. I was about to take out my purse when he said-"Go buy 10 platform tickets and come, till then i will keep your mobile."
---------------
I was horror-struck. I felt so guilty for having thought bad about such an honest person. Like all times I thought he too fell into the drainage of corruption. He proved me wrong. I was wondering how cruel life would have been to him. It's like you are a rotten apple in a basket full of good apples, but in reality you are the sole good apple.I immediately saw his name plate on his chest to see his name and there it was a name which could have made history which should have been given recognition of some form. His name was Syriac Varghese. I just felt what would he be getting in return for being honest in his work. Just a lame salary! He deserves more!
At that point a phrase said in the anime Full Metal Alchemist came ringing in my ears.
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange.But the world isn't perfect, and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange doesn't encompass everything that goes on here. But I still choose to believe in its principle: that all things do come at a price. That there's an ebb, and a flow, a cycle. That the pain we went through did have a reward and that anyone who's determined and perseveres will get something of value in return, even if it's not what they expected."
Hoping that these words turn out true to that true Indian!
"I came to drop a friend of mine here”, I replied in a low tone as if accepting a huge defeat.
"Did u check the board at the entrance? You are supposed to buy the so-called platform ticket to get onto the platform?” he retorted back.
"We were very late so we had to hurry, otherwise my friend would have missed the train. So I had to run in and I did not have time to buy the platform ticket”, I answered back cautiously wondering what was going through his mind. How I wished I had the intellectual ability to penetrate into his ideas?
"The usual answer everybody gives. You are no different. Stand-aside while i finish my checking and then I will deal with you" he shouted back.
So as always, when a government official like a traffic policeman or a ticket checker catches anybody, I was also asked to "stand aside". And the immediate thought that occurs to us is -okay now what next? How much cash do you have? How much you should tell him that you have? And finally how much should you give him? What is the maximum he can do? Can he put anyone into prison for not buying a platform ticket... Nah.. Not possible! I believed in the Indian penal code. I somehow felt something was amiss. This guy, for some reason din’t seem to me as a person who is so honest in his work. I feel it’s a rather common feeling that all these government servants are corrupted well from within. These people learn to excel in the three principal ingredients, of insolence, lying, and bribery. But then I just had 50 bucks with me and I had to try all my chances. Coming to think of it not even once have I gone onto a platform without a platform ticket (this was the first time-yes its true!). I felt an inside urge to speak to him about this.
So I approached him and said, "Sir, this is the first time I am getting onto a platform without a ticket. In fact I always advise every one of my friends to take platform ticket whenever they get onto a platform. So I am sorry just forgive me this time alone".
"You don’t have a ticket so you will have to pay the fine" he breathed.
"Sir, I just have 40 bucks with me. How much is the fine?" I asked.
"The fine is Rs 285", he replied. I understood everything that was going on. He too is no different from his cousins. I felt that bribery was a felonious act of extorting money. For a split second I had even thought that not all people are bad and there is still some good left in this world. But then when he said that I just wanted to kill myself for not taking the platform ticket.
Anyway I retorted back, "Rs 285 is too much. For not taking a Rs3 platform ticket i should pay Rs285 is it? I just have Rs 40. I can give only Rs30 because I need 10 Rs to go back."
He had a very thoughtful look and I felt as if he is reading through my mind. But to my disappointment he said," U look like a student, u might have ATM cards and credit cards so go get 285 Rs and come, Meanwhile I will have your mobile phone".
"Sir please I do not have cash in my ATM too. Just take this and leave me", I pleaded.
"What is your name?” he intervened.
"My name is Narendar", I replied promptly.
"Where are you from?", He questioned.
"I am from chennai.", I answered.
"Being a person born and brought up in chennai you are not following the rules and regulations, how will the uneducated people obey the rules?" He asked. I had no reply to it.
"Okay I will forgive you this time but you need to do one thing", he said.
I was expecting for this part of the conversation. I was about to take out my purse when he said-"Go buy 10 platform tickets and come, till then i will keep your mobile."
---------------
I was horror-struck. I felt so guilty for having thought bad about such an honest person. Like all times I thought he too fell into the drainage of corruption. He proved me wrong. I was wondering how cruel life would have been to him. It's like you are a rotten apple in a basket full of good apples, but in reality you are the sole good apple.I immediately saw his name plate on his chest to see his name and there it was a name which could have made history which should have been given recognition of some form. His name was Syriac Varghese. I just felt what would he be getting in return for being honest in his work. Just a lame salary! He deserves more!
At that point a phrase said in the anime Full Metal Alchemist came ringing in my ears.
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange.But the world isn't perfect, and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange doesn't encompass everything that goes on here. But I still choose to believe in its principle: that all things do come at a price. That there's an ebb, and a flow, a cycle. That the pain we went through did have a reward and that anyone who's determined and perseveres will get something of value in return, even if it's not what they expected."
Hoping that these words turn out true to that true Indian!
11 comments:
makes me even more prouder that i am from the country as the ticket examiner..
wat does ur blog's title mean? "Being non-being ..."
Re: vatsil
The day i had the argument with you regarding idealism and materialism i just wanted to enlighten myself with certain aspects of both the theories. Monism is a metaphysical view which believes that all is one, that there are no fundamental divisions, and a unified set of laws underlie nature.I felt that this uncertainty in life is what drives us forward and Being non-being that 'breathed without breath'is a phrase actually from Nasadiya sukta from rigveda (i dont read vedas and all but when i referred it for certain knowledge i got inspired and from there i took this stance...) that amplifies the fact that all is one! I, like every other human being , am in a quest for knowledge about our creation and existence. The more i hear , the more i feel like knowing about everything that determines everything in this world including nothing!..thats all..
RE: nautillus
Ya true man! I too am proud that even now there is some good left in this selfish world...
Its one of those nice experiences to keep company the whole life :) reminding us that virtues does exist when it seems least likely to.
nice exp.. i had similar one too.. yea there are gems out there..
Sounds like one of the stories we had in r english text book. I know this is a real story. This proves that in this world of degenerating decencies there are people of some moral value...
Good blog!
'These people learn to excel in the three principal ingredients, of insolence, lying, and bribery.'
I liked that one-liner, I'll be stealing it.
@vibin
thanks dude! ya i don mind! do comment on other posts too :)
a nice one :) shows der r exceptions in everything :)
@Aishwarya Rameshbabu
Yes it does show that there are exceptions and also that life is not discretely divided into good and bad and its how we want to perceive it. do comment on other posts too :)
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