April 30, 2347hrs
Finally, after a big disappointment from JEE, got a relief
to know that my paper was good enough to get me to a NIT. But, I am not 100% laudable
for it. I guess nobody is. Teachers, friends, family share the percentage too.
My story was even the same, till I met someone, completely unfamiliar on the
day before the exam.
Apr 28, 1700hrs
I reached Platform no. 1, Habibganj station, half an hour
before the arrival of intercity (Bhopal to Indore), only to see a massive crowd
of students waiting for the train. I was watching roughly 0.3% of the students
whom I was going to compete with. Luckily, I convinced myself not to think
about the situation that’s going to arise when the train would come. I was just
roaming around when the announcement of the train being late by an hour added
to my disconcert. Perhaps, the greatest reason was my unavoidable thinking
what's gonna happen tomorrow. Waiting... Waiting...
1838hrs
The train arrived. And what happened after that was in
complete resemblance to what I imagined an hour ago. People started rushing towards their compartments pushing
everyone in their way, with a free exchange of abuse. Getting into it was a matter of trial. One slightly good thing
that happened was that our bogie stopped exactly in front of us so we didn't
hurry and waited for the rush to decrease.
We'd our reservations confirmed so no difficulty in
occupying our seats...
The train departed, twenty five minutes after that mess up
and we began what we planned for, revision.
I took out my NCERT chemistry textbook, and started
parroting some important organic reactions when my first interruption arose.
A woman (might be ~35), typical Bhopali, emerged from nowhere and started arguing us claiming the seats to be her’s.
It took around some 30-40 minutes for her to give up so we could set our eyes
back to the books...
Hardly twenty minutes would have passed when some 15-20
students sitting a few seats ahead of us started playing Antakshari, which
lasted till we reached Indore. And this marked the end of our hopes to
accomplish one last revision...
Meanwhile, the passengers in the train were filled liked sardines, so badly that we could feel
the train sliding on the rails. Since we didn't had any supplements, we began discussing
physics, followed by politics, movies, Kate Beckinsale, life in Kota (not about
how well it is for the JEE aspirants, but how well it has nurtured to a
marketing empire) each ended without conclusion. Later, we reached Shajapur. As
the train was already overloaded, the students waiting on that station looked
terrified and believe me, it was real. Few of them I heard decided to go by
bus. Suddenly, a girl, for the same cause came and started urging to the
passengers who were accumulating near the exits to let her in. But obviously,
no one cared. But she wasn't among the ones to go back that day. The window
near which I was sitting was broken. I asked her to hand her bag inside through the window. She
did the same without asking anything, which got her rid of the tonny luggage.
The train began to move and I thought she didn't make it. But she succeeded. I
handed her the bag and continued listening to my playlist full of motivational
songs which I’d specially downloaded for such occasions. After 4-5 hours of
that continuous restlessness we finally reached Indore, dead tired few minutes
before the date changed.
0015hrs
There came our second challenge. We needed a roof to spend
our night so we hired an auto to look for a nearby hotel. But there were no
limits to our surprise ('shock' precisely) to know that there wasn't even ONE
room left in any of the seven hotels we checked in. We weren't in a position to
afford a luxurious one. Even if we could, we didn't want to end up just
sleeping without availing those royal privileges.
We were just thinking silently what to do when a voice
turned our heads-
"Come to my home, sir! First class accommodation is
available. Water comes round the clock.
I’ll arrange beds and fans for you, so you can sleep. I’ll also take you
to your exam centers in the morning."
It was the auto driver. He was a swarthy tough looking man
in his forties. By this time, he was well acquainted with our situation.
Evidently, everyone imagined how it would be like to stay in the house of an
auto driver when he continued-
“Sir! At least consider seeing it once. Not a problem if you
disagree. I’ll drop you wherever you want. I assure you.”
He might have read what was going in our minds. That’s why
he was emphasizing. As we were left with no other option, we headed to his
home.
0100hrs
This time I lost in the battle of imagination vs. reality.
He was living (probably alone) in a three story house, first and second
floor he told he gave for rent. We had a luxurious hall having 32' LCD and 5.1
surround waiting for us, two bedrooms each with double beds, though no cooler
(his excuse was that the cooler has gone for a replacement with a bigger one.
Considering he was well off financially, it didn't really look like an excuse),
well equipped bathroom with a bathtub (which really triggered me to immediately
jump in it as I was perspiring badly) the front wall had a mount board for LCD
though it wasn't installed...and a kitchen. There was hardly any chance of
declining.
We kept our luggage there and went out to look for some
nearby restaurant or dhaba as our stomachs were demanding their shares of
business too. We found a dhaba at half a mile where we had our dinner. Coming
back, I almost slept instantly while my friends indulged in their night gossips
for like an hour or so... that’s what they told me.
0600hrs
"Get up lads. You're late. Get ready c'mon. Hurry
up."
A stern voice reached our ears. Since we were completely
exhausted in the encounter(s) of last night, we were feeling a little low even
in the morning. But as the exam was the first priority, we managed to get ready
in an hour.
0700hrs
We headed for our exam center. But before that we wanted to
have some light breakfast, and we thought poha-jalebi would just be fine. So we
went to the same dhaba and ordered poha-jalebi and tea...
Midst eating, I asked him (driver) the question which I was
trying to suppress since last night.
"Uncle, you've such a house. You live alone?"
He nodded in agreement.
"Where are your wife and kids?"
"They live in Bhopal."
"And you earn your livelihood with just an auto, that
too in a vast city like this? I mean, how do you manage such a house? And how
do you look so calm and free?” I asked without a pause.
He finished his last sip of tea, and said-
"I've to, sir! I am helpless (he didn't mean
financially; there wasn't a single sign of compulsion on his face). I am very
much emotionally attached to this city. Born here, studied here, and got
married here too. Shrimatiji and kids live in Bhopal. We've transport business
over there. Proud owner of three trucks, he said smiling. We've a shop too at
Chowk Bazaar there, Shrimatiji handle that. She’s graduate. Truly speaking sir,
I am very much contented. Discontinued after high school. But my son studies in one of the top schools
of Bhopal. Bitiya is very young, will be joining her brother from this year. I
never expected more and more out of my life, and maybe that’s the reason I've everything."
I and my friends remained silent for a few moments. Perhaps
everyone was thinking how can a man be so satisfied, so complete in himself?
It’s against human nature. After a few minutes, we finished our breakfast and
left...
Overall, the exam was good. Glad. On my way back home, I was
trying to recollect the incidents happened with me in the last 24 hours.
Here I am putting it all into a piece of paper expecting
that someday, somebody will read it. May utter a word of appreciation or two.
But it’s just a story, right? Who cares what happened with
any Aayush Kumar Pandey. Even if anyone does, do they really mean it? Incidents
happen every day. They are a part and parcel of our life. But they have the
power to mould our future. This was surely among one of them, which taught
me that there’s one value on this planet, rarer than Sapphire, Emerald or Ruby,
and that’s SATISFACTION. Not more than a handful of people get the chance to
experience it. At this point of time, when there’s cut-throat competition amongst mankind, many people doubt its legitimacy. They may ask questions like-
“Who are you? Dr. Phil?”
“No one is satisfied. Look at yourself. Don’t you want a
better future?”
True.
They have the right to know the answer. The answer is- Our
demands?? No. Our increasing demands. Yes, or maybe there’s one more word in
the dictionary- GREED. Firstly, some quotes which I compiled in connection to
the context-
“What do all men with power want?
More power.”
~The Oracle (The Matrix Reloaded-2003)
“Earth provides enough to satisfy
every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
~M.K.
Gandhi
“The needs of the many outweigh
the needs of the few.”
~Spock (Star
Trek II: The Wrath of Khan-1982)
Secondly, my explanation to the question-
Who doesn't? But the approach is wrong.
We are the dominating species on this planet. Indeed we are.
And this itself has become a reason for our dilemma. The secrets behind
the world’s end are the needs (or greed) of its inhabitants itself. God is so clever, that he set his hands free by deliberately infecting us by this virus when he created us, and we, in a quest to become cleverer failed to understand that. Perhaps that’s
why we held him responsible for OUR misery, most of the times. Ironically,
another human tendency. We are so weak to admit that what we are committing is
not a votary of humanity. We can’t redress what we have done in the past. But
unfortunately, we aren't concerned about the future too. There are other explanations to the
question as well, which if written down, would fill a volume. I am just
hovering over the prominent ones.
This philosophy may appear to be useless to an age in which
we are, but one day...
END
Disclaimer:
Regarding the lesson- Everyone has his own perception. This is
mine. It’s just an experience which I thought worth sharing. No disrespect
intended towards anyone’s opinion.
