A
few days back, while I was travelling from Chennai to Tuticorin by train, one
incident happened which kept me thinking for a while. As you would be aware the
food vendors, pick up food orders in the train and deliver it to us at some
particular station. So, I ordered for a food parcel and the same was delivered
to me after Chengelput station. The vendor asked me for Rs.30/-, which I
happily paid.
One
of my co - passenger, who had not been talking with me till then, asked me a
question. He asked what was the price printed on the wrapper box of the food
parcel. I saw and said it is Rs.27/-. He asked me, why I paid Rs.30/- and did
not demand the balance amount of Rs.3/- from the vendor. I did not have an
answer. Infact, I myself had not noticed that there is difference of amount
being charged and the price printed on the pack. Even if I had seen, I am not a
person who would have insisted on the change, because of my general generous
behaviour.
He
told me, “You look like an educated person and you itself do not question such
things. If literate people like you don’t question, what is the plight of the
illiterate people, who do not know to read or write”. He added that people were
exploited because they do not dare to question the wrongs happening around
them. I did not feel hurt by his remarks, but I felt quiet guilty for a moment.
The guilt arised out of his words, “literate people like you”. For a moment, it opened my eyes to a fact. It
showed the amount of faith and trust the common man has on the educated
segment, who he thinks will take India out of the darkness to light. In this case, it was not the meagre Rs.3/-
that mattered, but the question of social responsibility.
It
is not OK, to just keep blaming the politicians and higher authorities for the
mishappenings around us. It is perhaps because we succumb to such situations,
so easily, more and more mistakes are happening. It does not necessarily mean,
that we should pull a fight with each and everyone, to justify our rights, but
trying to be assertive enough to stress our rights.
A
dialogue in the movie, Spiderman goes likes this. “With great power comes great
responsibility”. I was able to relate this to the incident that happened.
Happy Reading,
D. Senthil Kannan
Article Dated Dec 2006
