A devil in the night and a god in the morning
Mrs Rajkumari Santhanam and her new born child Vasudha boarded the Howrah Mail at Kolkata to go to Chennai. It was just past 10 00 p.m. From the time the train left the station, the child started crying without any apparent reasons and it continued almost through out the night. The mother was helpless and trying to calm the child by putting it on her shoulders and pacing the compartment from one end to the other end. But, it was all in vain. The child still continued to cry. Some of the fellow passengers in the compartment were irritated and annoyed by the disturbance caused to them by the child which prevented them a good night’s sleep. Some of them passed very critical comments about the inefficiency of the mother in handling the child. Some of them called the child a devil that came to spoil their journey.
Next day, early morning, the train just moved into the Bhubaneswar railway station. Immediately after it stopped, the passengers in the next compartment rushed out of their seats and looked for the railway policemen. A number of them were found shouting ‘chor, chor- thief, thief’ and weeping. On enquiry by one of the passengers from the compartment in which the mother and the crying child were traveling, it was told that the adjoining compartment was under siege during the night by decoits and they robbed valuables from almost all the passengers.
There was a great sigh of relief from the passengers of the compartment wherein the crying child was also traveling. One passenger said, thank God, this child only saved us from the great misery. Now, they found the child was a God sent one to save them from the misery of robbery and they started giving all the help to Rajkumari in making her journey smooth to Chennai.
S Santhanam
Father of the Child
Mrs Rajkumari Santhanam and her new born child Vasudha boarded the Howrah Mail at Kolkata to go to Chennai. It was just past 10 00 p.m. From the time the train left the station, the child started crying without any apparent reasons and it continued almost through out the night. The mother was helpless and trying to calm the child by putting it on her shoulders and pacing the compartment from one end to the other end. But, it was all in vain. The child still continued to cry. Some of the fellow passengers in the compartment were irritated and annoyed by the disturbance caused to them by the child which prevented them a good night’s sleep. Some of them passed very critical comments about the inefficiency of the mother in handling the child. Some of them called the child a devil that came to spoil their journey.
Next day, early morning, the train just moved into the Bhubaneswar railway station. Immediately after it stopped, the passengers in the next compartment rushed out of their seats and looked for the railway policemen. A number of them were found shouting ‘chor, chor- thief, thief’ and weeping. On enquiry by one of the passengers from the compartment in which the mother and the crying child were traveling, it was told that the adjoining compartment was under siege during the night by decoits and they robbed valuables from almost all the passengers.
There was a great sigh of relief from the passengers of the compartment wherein the crying child was also traveling. One passenger said, thank God, this child only saved us from the great misery. Now, they found the child was a God sent one to save them from the misery of robbery and they started giving all the help to Rajkumari in making her journey smooth to Chennai.
S Santhanam
Father of the Child
Too good peripa. Never knew this until now. :)
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