Met this gentleman in the train to Bangalore from Mumbai. He is an engineer working with MSEB for the last 20 years and his daughter is in 10th standard now.
He was talking about how the syllabus is good but the teaching is pathetic and how Tutorials make the students become parrots and not thinkers.
As I entered the train this man was sleeping in my berth and he told me that may be I cannot climb up to middle-berth ( which is his) and hence, he will have to use his middle-berth. I told him that in case he needs help, I can help by way of giving up my lower berth, but he need not say that I cannot climb to middle-berth. I gave my berth to him and he slept in my lower berth.
Next day he narrated his problem. On the rainy day in July 2006 when Mumbai was flooded with torrential rains, he was in his electrical sub-station at Mulund. There was a fire in his station and he really had nothing to do with it other than calling the fire department. He went out of his way in putting off the fire by jumping into the under ground cable trench and ran to switch off certain instruments, risking his own life. In the process he fell and damaged his spinal cord which in 72 hours made him totally paralytic.
With good treatment he had come out of the worst situation; but he cannot climb, cannot sleep in anyway he wants and is under medication. MSEB initially refused to pay for his treatment saying that paralysis did not happen while in office - but the same MSEB paid for treatment when a junior staff sent a sms to the board Chairman directly. Still he had to shell out nearly 5 to 7 lacs in getting himself back to whatever he is now.
Thank God for keeping me healthy!
Another young man with us in the compartment with a slightly damaged face then narrated his story. He was travelling with his family in Innova from Vijayawada to Hyderabad when his car hit a lorry and his face dashed against the stearing wheel with such force, his face was in pieces. His mother had too many fractures and he had to take care of her, forgetting his pain. But a good passer-by had rescued them and put them all in Apollo hospital Hyderabad. This man had spent 2 months in Apollo Hospital spending nearly 25 lacs. His mother is still undergoing treatment even after 8 months now.
He said that he realised the value of having all parts of the body in proper shape and having them all functional! Now he has decided to spend 1 week out of every month in a school for children afflicted with Autism. He said that he feels thankful to God that he came back to normalcy with only little disfiguration of face; as a gesture of thanks giving he does free teaching to autistic children.
At Bangalore, met a relative who is undergoing treatment for cancer. Money is not the problem - but the agony, tension and restlessness that goes with the treatment and the problems faced by everyone around the patient is something that cannot be understood.
The service tax issue which has put my financial health poorer had made me feel little depressed. Listening to the stories of these people made me realise that my problem is insignificant in comparison.
Thank God for giving me good health - physical and mental - financial health can be corrected with some more patience and good work.
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