That Night

It was midnight. I had been to the railway station to receive a friend of mine. The train was late by more than an hour and I was waiting at the station. There was a chill in the air. Everything appeared dead except for the occasional announcement of the trains. For some reason I felt that the atmosphere was gloomy.

I felt my life had no reason. I had a good job. But I did not have the time to spend the money which I was getting. These days I hardly derived any joy from watching movies, eating in the hotels and purchasing unwanted stuff. Life was struck. It was in a rut. Standing at the quiet railway station I kept on contemplating as to what was the purpose of my life. Unfortunately the ugly thoughts and their work was raising its din from all sides. The tumultuous sea of thoughts was indeed endless. I came to a conclusion that my life had no purpose at all. All the money I had earned was utterly useless. For the first time I felt so helpless. There was nothing to live for. I had met the wrong person in my life and she had created my life into a hell. I cursed my destiny for crossing my paths with a wicked woman like hers. I did not wish to live. Filled with negative thoughts my mind was abuzz with suicidal tendencies.

That was when I saw the people sleeping in the railway station. There hundreds of them. They were men and women, young and old. I could see there was one woman so old that she had to use a staff to walk. There was also one young woman nursing her child who was no less than a month. All of them lay on the the thin old blanket which served as their bedding and cuddled up inside another thin, ugly cloth to save themselves from the biting cold.

They had stuffed their meagre belongings into a torn bag and it served as a pillow. They had dogs for company. The dogs would squirm from one place to another. Like the people sleeping at the railway station, even the dogs were homeless. May be this was the reason why those unfortunate homeless souls treated dogs with love. They did not try to shove them away. At that time one hotel owner came to the railway station with left overs. He offered them to those who were sleeping. However not many of them were interested in eating the stuff. They were content. Dogs kept on following the hotel owner with their wagging tails.

My eyes were full of tears and my heart was filled with optimism. No doubt it was a very poignant scene, but still it was an eye opener for me. I realized how better placed I was than this unfortunate brothers and sisters of mine. If given a chance these kids who lay on the platforms could have become the best of doctors and engineers. But destiny had snatched those opportunities from these unfortunate souls for unknown reasons. But I was bestowed by the Almighty with an opportunity to make it big in my life. If I did not wanted to live for myself, I had to live for these brothers and sisters of mine. I gave up the idea of suicide and braced myself to work hard for the upliftment of these fellow citizens of mine who are destitute, homeless even after more than sixty years of independence.