My professor took the class for an extra 20 minutes today and now I’m late. Already annoyed at my professor and the heavy and unpredictable rains of this city, I board the bus to Mangalore City with just 45 minutes for my train to leave the platform. I get inside the crowded bus with a floor full of muddy footprints, the rain slightly spraying on the passengers’ faces through the tiny gap in the broken window and of course, there is no vacant seat. 20 minutes for my train to leave, I’m holding the railing of the bus and am surrounded by drenched bodies when the bus reaches one of its daily stops. A passenger gets off at the stop and there is a vacant seat. An elderly woman standing in front of me approaches the seat and is about to sit down when a young man in his 20’s or so pushes her to the side and occupies the seat. I was stunned and completely riled. Humans suck!!
Due to the terrible weather and traffic, I was really late when I reached Mangalore City. 6 minutes remaining for my train’s departure from the platform, and I’m in the rickshaw en route to the railway station. Almost sure that I might end up missing the train, I immediately drew some conclusions from the day.
- Mangalore weather sucks
- Humanity is dead
- Today is a BAAD day
4 minutes for my train to leave, and I’m waiting in the never-ending line at the ticket counter. The girl standing in front of me asks me if I’m getting late and lets me get ahead in line. And of course, today being a BAAD day, with just 3 minutes for my train’s departure there is a problem with the ticket printing machine. It’s finally my turn to buy the ticket. The machine has begun working. Tensed and in a haste, l dig my wallet to give all my money for a reserved ticket. 140 rupees yes, I believe that’s enough. “1 sleeper ticket to Kannur”. The man prints the ticket and I hand the money.
“30 more rupees ma’am, it’s 170”.
How did my calculation for the bus from college, a rickshaw to the railway station, and the ticket for the train go wrong?
Conclusion 4: My math sucks
I quickly say” it’s alright, just make it a general ticket”
”No, it’s already printed, you need to give 30 rupees ma’am”
“But I don’t have 30, just give me a general ticket”
‘I can’t do that, it’s PRINTED!!! You will lose 60 rupees’
“Sir I do not mind the 60 rupees, just give me the general ticket”
2 minutes for my train to leave and the man, not budging at my request, began attending to the next customer, the girl who offered to let me cut line. She pays for her ticket and gets back 10 rupees. Having witnessed the previous events, she hands me the 10 rupees and asks me how much more money I need. I say “Thank you, but I need 30”. Since she didn’t have more cash on her, I turn back at the ticket counter and beg the man to just give me the general ticket, the man slowly comprehending my words. 1 minute for my train to leave and the girl comes running after borrowing 20 rupees from a friend/relative of hers and hands it over to me immediately. I give the money at the counter and finally get my ticket. I thank her and ask her for her number so I can transfer the money through google pay. She says ”that’s no problem, run, go get your train“. 5 seconds for my train to leave and I sit in a sleeper compartment exhausted and guilty that I couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to repay her.
0 seconds for my train to move, My train is moving and my faith in kindness has been restored. My mother always told me “The world is filled with nice people. If you can’t find one, be one.” Today (despite being a BAAD day), I was able to find one.
As I am looking outside through the window of my compartment with heavy white pearls of water hitting against the window shield, I look at the green fields which now looks more fresh and lively, dancing against the showers from heaven, I realize that the unpredictability of Mangalore rains is probably what makes it a lot more worthy of appreciation. Like that really humid day in September when we had a power cut in our hostel for nearly 8 hours, and we were sitting and complaining soaked in sweat and angst, and an unbelievably strong wind blew and had brought with it the most comforting downpour.
Maybe today wasn’t that BAAD a day after all.
I slowly made my last and second least faulty conclusion from the day.
Conclusion 5: A small gesture of goodwill is all it takes to make a day slightly better.
– An article by Nivedhya Girish, 3rd year Department of Chemical Engineering