Since I was keen to start
off early in the morning I paid the rest house charges the previous night. The
excellent accommodation cost me Rs. 34! Gopal Mohanty insisted on seeing me
off. He came down from his flat and wished me well for the rest of the journey.
Last night Kaushik had given me patties and fresh fruit to nourish me on the
way. Much of it was consumed by the time I reached Malda.
While NH 6 and 2 were very
good, the SH 7, where work is in progress, had poor to indifferent roads. The
route passed through congested villages with heavy truck and local transport.
NH 34, which I took from about 100 kms short of Malda was also bad in
stretches. Kaliachak, near Malda, delayed me by about an hour with humungous
traffic jams caused by wanton encroachment of public land and indifferent users.
The distance from Farakka to Malda is just 35 kms, but I was on the road for
more than 90 minutes. Kaliachak is notorious for smuggling and many other
vices.
I was originally booked to
stay in the rest house at the Malda railway station. As I approached the city I
was give accommodation in the Kaladiri officers’ rest house, in the railway
colony. I was asked to wait at the railway station for a while till the Holi
celebrations tuned down a bit. While waiting in the VIP waiting room of the
station, HK Singh, the Station Manager, asked if I would like to have a south
indian lunch. I replied in the negative, wanting to skip the meal. In a while
he came into the room with an elderly person, who he introduced as KV Sadashivam.
For the next 30 minutes I was privy to one of the most interesting success
stories I have ever heard.
Sadashivam hailed from
Mavelikara in Kerala and is 83 years now. He does not look a day older than 60,
with clear complexion and a sprightly manner. Happiness and contentment, I
understood later, as was made him look the way he does. He ran away from home at
the age of 12, unable to bear the tyranny of his older brother. He took a train
to Chennai and later to Kolkata, remaining hungry for days together. Those
experiences shaped his character and taught him lessons that served him well in
the later years. He said he realised that even water has properties to quench
hunger, when you are without food. After many small jobs and attempts at
entrepreneurship he was able to get licence to start a south indian refreshment
stall on Malda railway station platform with the help of the then Divisional
Commercial Superintendent who happened to be from Andhra Pradesh. For the past
46 years he has been running the stall, and now also has additional stalls on
each platform. The railway has provided him with accommodation for cooking,
where he stays with his wife in one of the rooms.
The licence fee for the
stall has gone up from Rs. 15 to 38,000 per month in the past 45 years, he said.
The tariff for the food items have almost stood still. The amiable Sadashivam
says that his food is always in demand because of the quality and the quantity.
Even local dadas pay for his food
without harassing him because of this. The IRCTC food court has not affected
his business, he said. The human in him cried aloud when he saw refugees of the
1971 war licking banana leaves thrown on the railway track by passengers. It
made him think as to what he could do to help under the circumstances. The days
that he went without food too shaped his decision to organise anna danam every Thursday. He said at
least 75 destitute people partook of the dal kichdi every week. He also organised medical camps monthly for
14 years since he saw destitutes rolled up in the railway station and died
without attention. His daughter is married and settled in Cochin while his wife
and son help him out with his business. His daughter in law is an ayurvedic
doctor and runs the Shriddhi clinic in Malda, which is hugely popular. She has
clients from abroad and other parts of India, even staying for long durations
for congenital and problematic cases.
HK Singh is an exceptional
gentleman. He has come up from the rungs to be the Station Manager of Malda
Town railway station, a very respectable position. He has three daughters, all
of whom are professionals. The oldest is a media professional working with the
Zee Group in Mumbai; the second is a computer software professional based in
Australia at the moment for a project with Infosys; the third is a student,
pursuing her ambition to become a doctor. He unambiguously credits his wife
with the good upbringing of his children and their professional achievements.
His wife, he said, explained to his children about the demanding job that their
father was in and, despite her lack of higher education, set professional
targets for her children and helped them grow to achieve them. He proudly
mentioned how his two older daughters bought their parents enjoyable holidays
to Thailand and UAE.
The stay in the Kaladiri rest
house gave me time to do the laundry and catch up with blog writing. I was,
however, unable to post them since there was no WiFi on the premises. I also
did some repacking of luggage in the car. Despite deciding to skip lunch
Sadashivam insisted that I should have a light meal from his stall. I ended up
having a hot dosa and vadas with special chutney. He insisted that I should
have dinner with him so that he could introduce the rest of the family to me. I
did so and I had biriyani with egg curry, after spending quite some time with
his wife, son and daughter-in-law. The Sr DOM of Malda division dropped in for
a small chat before I turned in for the night. Since I had close to 700 kms of
drive to Guwahati I decided to hit the road, yet again, before 4.30 am.
All in all, an amazing day
when I could get to know two wonderful gentlemen and their families. Travel is
all about such experiences that help to understand your own life in the right
perspective. And, you also wonder how such experiences come into your life.
Take this day’s experience itself. If I had gone to the Kaladiri rest house
without going to the Malda railway station I may never have met these two
people, let alone experiencing a slice of their lives. Such experiences make me
believe and accept that everything happens for the best. It takes time,
sometimes, to understand why even misfortunes befall us; it may be to fortify
you or help you understand more about yourself. ‘God will never test us beyond
our strength’.
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