Commentary. Rights activist's experience of an unreserved compartment: India in diversity, pluralism

By Fr Cedric Prakash*
It has been a long and eventful day for me, culminating in a train journey. Although I still have a fever and feel rather exhausted, here I am putting this down as I promised a lady on the train that I would write and tell the world of her magnanimous gesture...
A rally had been organised by SOUL (Save Our Land) at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai to protest the Church land acquisitions. I was one of the speakers invited to address the people gathered. The crowds were much more than the organisers had expected. Speaker after speaker came down heavily on the Local Government, lambasting it for its nexus with the builders lobby and other vested interests. “You can no longer take Christians for granted!” “We want Justice!” “Enough is enough!” rent the air! It was truly a moving experience and I was touched that more and more Christians today come out for the cause of Justice.
However, I could not remain to the end of the programme, as I had to catch the 1710 Deccan Queen to Pune. I hurried to the CST Station and was looking forward to a relaxing 3-plus hour’s journey in the cool comfort of a Chair Car compartment. With a fever and a headache, I really needed it. I was relieved when I arrived at my “seat”. I showed my ticket to a guy who was seated on it. He checked it and very coolly told me, “Sir, your train has left this morning…your ticket is of the Deccan Express and NOT of Deccan Queen”. I couldn’t believe what he was saying, but on checking my ticket, realised he was right! A kind friend had helped me buy the ticket. I had clearly told him, “Deccan Queen” as I was scheduled to speak at the rally around 1530. I presumed he had got the ticket for the train I requested and did not bother to check it!!!
So what do I do now? It was almost 1655…..just fifteen minutes before the train’s departure. I ran out of the train…almost the full length of the platform to the ticket counter, only to be faced with a huge line. Some guys however had “mercy” on a Senior Citizen and in no time I had my ticket and ran back to the train (baggage and all) and entered an UNRESERVED compartment with just three minutes to spare!
To say that the compartment was like a “tin of sardines” is an understatement. It was jam-packed, with practically no room to even stand. I resigned myself to an uncomfortable trip. But the greatness of an Indian train journey is that once it begins, most of the travellers easily adjust and adapt. In no time I was asked to move ahead and some youth very generously beckoned me to sit at the edge of their seat. Not comfortable at all, but I was not complaining since the alternative was to stand for most part of the journey.
There were all kinds of people around me; of different faiths, languages and cultures! It was the beginning of HOLI (the Festival of Spring) and many seemed to be excited to be going back home or to spend the festival with friends and relatives. Several young ‘uns got down at Lonavla, perhaps for a great Holi revelry!
Suddenly a burqa-clad Muslim lady began pushing her way through; her three-year-old son desperately needed to use the toilet. All helped to make way and in no time they had reached the destination. Most did not know that the lady had left her baby daughter on the seat asking the neighbours to keep an eye on her. On realising that her mother was not around, the baby started bawling and shrieking to high heavens. Nobody knew what to do although the cries were deafening. Then from across my seat a young lady got up and spontaneously went to the baby and began cuddling and pacifying her. ‘The lady must surely be a friend of the family’, I thought to myself. The rocking calmed the baby who felt very soothed in the warm and loving hands. In awhile, the mother returned with her little son, took her baby from the arms of the lady and settled down. It was only then that I realised that this lady was a total stranger to the other and a Hindu!
My heart leapt with JOY! This is MY INDIA, I thought to myself! The India in which the stranger is just a friend we do not know; the India of diversity and pluralism; the India where we can transcend the narrow confines of religion and sectarianism. I could not help think of the trains in Nazi Germany…where people were pulled out and sent to concentration camps because they were “not one of us”. This INDIA I told myself should never die! We should not in any way allow the fascist and fundamentalist forces to destroy what is so precious to us! Let us not be fooled by their empty rhetoric of “development” (Hitler did the same) but let us be WARNED and ACT NOW before it is too late!
The Hindu lady was to alight at Shivajinagar. Before that, I plucked up courage and asked if I could speak to her. I told her that I would never forget her wonderful gesture! In great humility she replied, “Sir, I too have little children and I know what it means to be a mother.” Thanking her, I just told her to never let her concern and love, especially for the “the other”, to ever die. I asked her if she had seen the movie ‘DHARM’ in which Pankaj Kapur is the main actor.She had not.I requested her to see it if she could.And I promised that I would write about her great deed tonight itself….I do not know her name and who she is but I have just christened her BHARATMATA – women like her, are the soul of India!
I reached Pune, very tired and still with fever….but what an unforgettable journey it has been!I can’t help but hum to myself the JOURNEY song of Lea Salonga and specially these words:
“What a journey it has been
And the end is not in sight
But those stars are out tonight
And they're bound to guide my way”
---
* Written on 15th March, 2014. Fr. Cedric Prakash sj is the Director of PRASHANT, the Ahmedabad based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace

Comments

India's chemical industry: The missing piece of Atmanirbhar Bharat

By N.S. Venkataraman* Rarely a day passes without the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister speaking about the importance of Atmanirbhar Bharat . The Start-up India scheme is a pillar in promoting this vision, and considerable enthusiasm has been reported in promoting start-up projects across the country. While these developments are positive, Atmanirbhar Bharat does not seem to have made significant progress within the Indian chemical industry . This is a matter of high concern that needs urgent and dispassionate analysis.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Remembering a remarkable rebel: Personal recollections of Comrade Himmat Shah

By Rajiv Shah I first came in contact with Himmat Shah in the second half of the 1970s during one of my routine visits to Ahmedabad , my maternal hometown. I do not recall the exact year, but at that time I was working in Delhi with the CPI -owned People’s Publishing House (PPH) as its assistant editor, editing books and writing occasional articles for small periodicals. Himmatbhai — as I would call him — worked at the People’s Book House (PBH), the CPI’s bookshop on Relief Road in Ahmedabad.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Farewell to Robin Smith, England’s Lionhearted Warrior Against Pace

By Harsh Thakor* Robin Smith, who has died at the age of 62, was among the most adept and convincing players of fast bowling during an era when English cricket was in decline and pace bowling was at its most lethal. Unwavering against the tormenting West Indies pace attack or the relentless Australians, Smith epitomised courage and stroke-making prowess. His trademark shot, an immensely powerful square cut, made him a scourge of opponents. Wearing a blue England helmet without a visor or grille, he relished pulling, hooking and cutting the quicks.

Jallianwala: Dark room documents reveal multi-religious, multi-caste martyrdom

By Shamsul Islam* Today India has turned into a grazing field for all kinds of religious bigots. The RSS/BJP rulers are openly declaring their commitment to turn India into a Hindu state, where Muslims and Christians have no place, and Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism can survive only as sects of Hinduism. However, it this was the scenario 100 years back when the British rulers perpetrated one of the worst massacres in the modern history -- the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. People of India shackled by the most powerful imperialist power of the world, Britain, presented a heroic united resistance. It is not hearsay but proved by contemporary official, mostly British documents. These amazing documents were part of British archives which became National Archives of India after Independence. As a pleasant surprise these documents were made public to mark the 75th commemoration of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as part of an exhibition titled, 'Archives and Jallianwala Bagh: A Saga of ...

Search This Blog