I met a porter a.k.a sahayak named suresh at Bangalore railway station.
Many may take their time to guess what sahayak meant. But when I say 'Railway Coolie.' Many can relate now.
After a stay for nearly 4 months, with too much of luggage to carry, I headed to railway station. Stroking his shabby beard, looking at my struggle to carry 4 bags at a time. Suresh suggested his work.
We started walking down to 6th platform and I couldn't stop asking him about his profession.
Me: Do Railway pays you the salary?
Suresh: No, they give you license. We paid hefty amount back then when we were told that we'd get a permanent job in railways, 7 years till now but still nothing rolled on to our plate.
After a long pause,
Suresh: Are you a student?
Me: Yes
Suresh: I also finished P.U and then had to work to run the family and slowly I married and now I have son who is doing ITI in mechanical branch.
Me: To add, I said, even I'm Mechanical engineer.
Suresh: Education. I had to stop my education since I had to earn money as my father passed away. That's why I educated my son. After this ITI, my son can write exams for train drivers and he can lead a good life.
Me: When will you get permanent job in this railways?
Suresh: We were told that we'd get. I don't know when.
As we had this conversation, we reached 6th platform. It was a good experience to see suresh's perspective on education. And also how true it is about parents to wish their children to reach a far mile which they couldn't reach.
Being scared of Bangalore traffic, I reached station very early. I thanked suresh for the help. I wish his son make him proud by leading a good, better life.
