There are a lot of times when we vehemently disapprove of what the world has come to be. People’s nonchalance towards the helpless and needy would make use believe that compassion might have become a thing of the past.
Yet, it is almost surprising how we often come across someone who proves us wrong. Like this Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) whom a Facebook user spotted on a train to Palakkad, Kerala.
Vishnu Vardhan from Bellary, Karnataka, in a heartfelt Facebook post describes the TTE as “stern yet polite”. He was checking the passengers’ tickets on the Palakkad-bound train when Vardhan saw him engaging in a conversation with a family of five. He wrote, the family was on a pilgrimage to Velankanni in Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam district, for which they were to catch a train from Coimbatore.
The seemingly happy family was dismayed to hear from the TTE that the train they had booked tickets to travel from Coimbatore had in fact, already left! But the “stern” TTE knew better than to leave the family helpless, though he could very well have gone ahead minding his own work. His simple act of kindness is nothing less than an example of humanity.
“Yesterday as I was travelling in train to Palakkad,this TTE was doing routine stuff, was stern yet polite….Never felt he was extraordinary…. But after sometime, a family of five, seemingly from some interior place/village got in….
The TTE checked their tickets which was till Coimbatore and asked where they wanted to go from there….They replied they were going for a pilgrimage to Velankanni and had to catch a train from Coimbatore at 1 am….The TTE enquired for those tickets and said this….”If I tell you something, you may all feel disappointed…..
The ticket you have reserved is for 25th….1am train…..That had already left today early morning….You need to have reserved tickets for the train on 26th to travel by the train from Coimbatore….” Hearing this the family including 3 small kids almost lost all their happiness….
It was then that the TTE proved himself to be extraordinary. He said “I shall try to help you book tickets online”….This is him helping them with online booking in his own mobile….
When we think of our nation and its development, small things like a change of attitude to ‘help fellow countrymen’ are the ones that reinstate our belief in governments and public systems….and makes one feel proud as an Indian…. #VandeMataram!
Courtesy nityamohanan”
His Facebook post won the hearts of many, as it seems from some of the reactions here.
