POVERTY

  Once upon a time, there lived a poor and elderly couple that without fail used to visit the railway station of a small town every morning, as well as in the evening. There, they used to wait for a particular passenger train that used to arrive at six in the morning. The same train used to return at seven in the evening. When again, they used to wait for its arrival, and after the train left they used to return to their home empty-handed.

  But in the five minutes that the train halted the couple used to go into a tizzy. They used to go in opposite directions. One towards the engine and the other towards the end of the train. As if looking for someone, and day-after-day they used to call out the same name.

  In the same platform, there was a tea vendor who had had his tea stall there for many years now. He used to light his gas stove at 5 in the morning to make tea. His first customers used to be the ones out of the same passenger train, for which, this elderly couple, used to come and wait each morning and evening.

  The tea vendor had watched the couple quite attentively for years every day while doing his brisk business. The passenger train was rarely late. And after midnight it used to be the first train in the morning.

  One morning when the train arrived. The elderly couple as usual went in opposite directions, calling out the same name. But as the train trickled out of the platform. They came and sat near the staircase trying to catch their breath.

  The tea vendor who used to watch them from a distance each day could not hold his inquisition that day. He walked up to the elderly couple and asked,

  ‘I have been watching you both, coming to this platform, without fail, for years now. What do you come here for? Are you looking for someone?’ He asked in a concerned tone.

  Embarrassed, the couple looked at each other when the elderly man in a hesitant and guilty tone said,

  ‘Babuji some fifteen years back. In the same passenger train. We had left behind, three of our children, because we didn’t have money to feed them. So we come here looking for them. We shout for the elder one. Who was six then, thinking he might remember his name and respond, but till date we have not met with any success.’

  This is poverty at its worst. It is a true story. In this life, we often are upset over minor things, even when God has given us everything. Remember, destiny can be extremely kind to some, and extremely harsh to some others. So thank God, for each iota of goodness that you have in your life.