Back to Future… III

Coming back from Pune, Hiya’s home. I am Angry and upset with them.Reached railway station in a solar-powered but high-speed bus. I did not let Hiya or her Husband come along with me to drop me at railway station, because I am angry with them. Railway station was very different from past when I used to travel a lot as we had an office here.  There are no porter now, but they have automated solar driven trolley for senior citizens. Sat on that with my briefcase and punched my ticket. It showed me options..It had provisions to take me to restaurant, book store and other stores inside the railway station premises but  I was not in a mood to go anywhere else. So I chose the option so that it takes me straight to the train coach. It has a steering too but I can not see very well so proffered automatic option. Sat in my seat and looked outside and started my thought engine.

Hiya and her husband signed a consent form and sent their son for training to some remote location. Consent form says anytime  he can be called to do military or social service . He will go for one year training.What kind of parents are there these days? Let him study than doing these and get some degrees so that he can get a good job abroad and secure his future. His life will be at risk while doing those services. I heard they call students to help in case of natural calamities at any part of the country and if anytime war is on, he has to go there as well.  “What this generation thinks about themselves. They know everything and we knew nothing? I was patriot too and have joined in so many candle light march and written so many blogs for it. These people do not know how important it is to secure their own self and future”. I was throwing my frustration towards the window.

One gentleman wearing traditional dress came to me and said “Namaste!!”. I looked at him with surprise thinking how I know him. He said, “What would you like for dinner Mahashaya?”. I said “Nothing!”. He sat beside me and asked, “Mahashaya, You look worried. May I help you any way”. I said, “No kiddo, Go away!!”. He said, “I respect your feelings Mahashaya. Please press the switch if you need anything at anytime. We are at your service always”. He gave me one paper. I took my spectacles out of my bag and read it. It was the menu and other services available in this train.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the kind of services. They have one compartment for kids to listen stories and play various games. They provide homemade food to kids. There are very experienced people working there, who are trained in child psychology.

They have one compartment for seniors too. They have arranged many discussion sessions. They will read and decipher many ancient texts of various civilizations. They take input from seniors while deciphering as they consider seniors have enough experience to understand these better.

One gentleman came and introduced himself as train manager. He sat beside me and asked me to give any feedback for improvement. I asked him, “Forget about feedback, tell me, how you manage to get so many compartments for these all activities. Are engine’s that powerful now a days?” He smiled and said, “Mahashaya, Yes engines are powerful, very powerful. There is another advantage is that number of people travelling in a train have reduced”. I asked with surprise, “How?”. He said “Now every state and city is enough self-sufficient so people do not go to other cities or states for job. Digitalized meeting rooms in every local post office allows people to meet each other without physically going there. Trains are high-speed and very good signaling system helps us to run more number of trains. That is the reason there are not much rush in trains now a days.”. I said, “Okay, good”. Then I told him that I have not found any problem so my feedback is very positive. He thanked me and went to the next person.

Reached Vadodara railway station and again I had to punch my ticket to get out of the platform. As soon as I punched my ticket one man in khaki uniform said “Namaste!!”. I said “Hello”. He said, “Mahashaya, you have a letter”. I said, “How you know me and how come you are giving me letter here?”. He said, “Mahashaya, as soon as you punched the ticket, we could recognize you and we also got one message in our system that there is one e-Post for you”. He asked me to enter my national identification number and my secret password associated with it in the system. Once I did that, Then he took and print out, put it in one envelope and handed over to me. I found a handwritten letter from Hiya. She was very sorry for making me unhappy but she explained how her kids future will not be bright until our nation’s future is not made bright. I somewhat agreed and was happy to see her handwritten letter. I asked the gentleman, “How could you get me a handwritten letter which was written few minutes back”. He explained, “Mahashaya, this service is called e-post. Where people have to write letters, scan it and send to one specified email id mentioning the person’s National identification number and address. Once any system identifies the person, they will be able to print it and give it to him. If no system identifies him then it will be sent to the address.”. I said ,”Okay,..”. I thanked him and went back to my home.

Namaste!!!

– Stray Dog