Give Me The Wings To Fly High

What comes to your mind when you see the person in the image? Obviously, a porter!

Yes, he is Sreenath, a porter at Kerala's Ernakulam railway station. But that is only one half of the story. The other half of the story left me amazed and I am sure it would leave you with no less of an impact.

Sreenath K is a high-school pass out hailing from Munnar, who cracked the KPSC exam. He has been earning his livelihood carrying heavy luggage at Ernakulam Junction in Kerala for the past five years.

The preparation consisted of his mobile phone equipped with the free Wi-Fi services available at the railway station and a pair of earphones. 

He said "I will keep studying while I work as a coolie because I have the pressure of running my house... I will keep studying and appearing for exams. If I appear for enough exams, I am bound to get a good job."

He adds in his own words "I have appeared thrice for the exam and this is the first time I used the Wi-Fi at the station. What I do is put on my earphones and listen to the study material as I carry the luggage or solve questionnaires in my mind. This way I can study while I work. I revise all my work at night when I get free time."

Awesome! Isn’t it? 

Sreenath's is just one side of the story. Let us come to the other side of the story, i.e., free Wi-Fi.

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Nowadays, almost all public areas, hotels, restaurants have access to free Wi-Fi. Users are pressing state and city administrations to have access to free Wi-Fi in public areas so that presumably their work can continue unabated. It is part of the drive to go digital, without interruptions.

On the other hand, a recent review of free Wi-Fi provided by the Indian Railways at various railway stations threw up some startling, but very obvious, revelations - most number of sites surfed were pornographic sites; many of the users were young boys and men who would enter within the free Wi-Fi zone and use, or rather misuse, the facility for hours, watching porn and other videos of sexual abuse and assault. We are all aware of the truth, aren’t we? It does not matter how many resources we have, what matters is how we are using them and for what purpose we are using them.

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU HAVE, IT IS HOW YOU USE IT

The decision is yours, all of us have only one life and we are entitled to live it on our own terms. No questions asked. At the same time, do remember that continued indulgence in gratification would lead to great harm in the longer run. It is all about striking the right balance by maintaining restraint and practicing mindfulness. We need to be conscious of the decisions we take and the boundaries we set for ourselves.

Falling into the trap of indulging in pleasures when faced with a crisis is a BIG NO! I mean who doesn’t have struggles and go through challenges. Everyone on the earth will have their share of struggles, but how we react to different situations defines our mindset and ultimately the outcome. 

Time will never cease. It will keep on ticking and every second we are heading towards something. We all shall be there, sooner or later, until then just keep on working and wait for that right moment to click in. 

I do not have even an iota of doubt that every porter can be a Sreenath if he only knew how to use the resources nature has bestowed upon him and keep believing in himself. For that matter, every one of us can excel in life by just remembering this simple mantra "It is not what you have; It is how you use it”.

Good Luck. God Bless.