Is Idealism Affordable?

( already published in an in-house magazine)

          This is a real life event narrated in the form of a story. 

          Padma, as you all know, was born into a middle class family. She grew up listening to stories of how Rajah Rammohun Roy braved the society of his time to bring in the Sati Abolition Legislation, how Kandukuri  Veeresalingam Pantulu conducted widow remarriage, braving ostracism  from his fellow castemen, how Sir Raghupati Venkataratnam  Naidu brought about a transformation in the Devadasi community, so on and so forth.

          It was her grandpa, Sitaram, and her aunt, Lakshmi, who were her story-tellers. After relating the anecdote, they would add, ‘See, how courageous he was?’, or ‘One should stick to ideals like that’.

          ‘What are these ideals, grandpa?’  Padma would ask. Sitaram’s definition was ‘Ideals are beliefs in situations which are desirable, but not easily attainable’.

          These words stuck to Padma’s mind, but she was never really tested on her ideals nor did she come across such a situation.

          In the meantime, Grandpa Sitaram would broaden the scope of idealism by saying a few things like these:

1)    “Keeping away from bad habits despite ‘peer pressure’ (a new concept to learn), is an ideal. Your cousin, who was 16 at the time of the Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, set himself an ideal, not to smoke or drink unlike some of his friends/class-mates. He has survived hostel life and came out unscathed and still values his ideal”.

2)    ‘If two people fall in love, facing a disapproving society or class/caste distinctions and not letting go of each other is desirable.  It may be at the cost of a lot of comfort, but love should be valued.’

3)    ‘When someone offered me a ‘personal monetary incentive’ in some official purchase, I refused it;    Instead, I made the seller to pass the amount offered to me as an additional discount to my organisation.’

4)    ‘Being idealistic can be afforded only by bravehearts and the determined, not the chickens’.

With her immediate family standing by ideals, Padma did not understand the implication of the ‘affordability’ of idealism. She played and replayed it in her mind countless times still in vain.

But not for long. The situation presented itself when Padma was pursuing her research degree.

          That was going to be the first time she was going to travel all alone, from Visakhapatnam to Chennai. She had travelled by that route umpteen times, but travelling alone would be a challenge. What if someone would take advantage of her being alone?  What if the uncle, who was to receive her at the Railway station, would not turn up? How would she manage to go home?

          Padma’s dad, Soma, sought to reassure his daughter: ‘Listen, Padma, you need to learn to handle all that. Remember, your aunt was even younger, when she went on her own, without knowledge of the local language, to places to collect data in pursuit of her research degree.

a)    ‘When you are following her footsteps, emulate her courage as well.

b)    ‘You are at an advantage in that you know the local language, Tamil, unlike your aunt.   

c)    ‘You need not face the inconvenience of overnight journey. You board the train early in the morning and alight by evening.

d)    ‘You will have someone to see you off and receive you at the Railway station, a comfort your aunt did not have.

e)    ‘On top of it, the train you’re going to take has limited stops, which, in turn, limits the scope for unauthorised passengers’.

          Dad bought a sleeper class ticket for her – it cost around Rs.100/-.

 However, there was some tension associated with it – it was waitlisted No.5. The date of journey was the 23^rd December, the day that ushered In the Christmas vacation. The father- daughter duo reached the Railway station at 03.40 A.M in the morning, in the hope of having a confirmed ticket on hand.

          Soma & Padma walked up to the Sleeper class reservation chart of No.141 Coromandel Express, and found to their dismay, that Padma’s name showed something like this :

PADMA F.24 WL/1

Padma was aghast. Did her first ever solo journey by train have to be

so tension filled? What’s the way out? Should we get into the train, and bribe the TTE? How much would it cost? During her previous train journey, she noticed the TTE being ‘greased’ for Rs.20 for a similar distance in journey. 20 percent of the cost of ticket just to ensure we leave on date? Why don’t the Railways run additional trains ( or even attach additional coaches) to clear the holiday rush? What if the TTE accepted the bribe and threw her out? She also promptly recollected an incident from her childhood wherein a male passenger, who erroneously got into a women’s compartment after refilling water in the Rajahmundry station, was pushed out by security personnel, causing him to drown in the Godavari. Oh, so scary!

          ‘Padma, where are you lost?’. Dad Soma’s call brought here back to the present. ‘Dad, what next?’ she asked. ‘Let’s cancel the ticket and return home,’ declared her dad. ‘Fine’, replied she, partly relieved that the agony of having to travel alone was put off, at least for that day. More importantly, her father had stood up to the ideal of not bribing one’s way!

          ‘No chance of getting a confirmed ticket till after Pongal’, announced Dad to the family. Soma had been to the Railway Reservation Complex, and started reeling out the waitlist numbers on that train till about Jan.17^th. Padma had regained her composure by now, and looked at the larger picture – she was going to lose nearly a month because of non-availability of Railway Reservation.

          Looking at her glum face, Soma continued: ‘Did you not read in the newspaper that we now have a Vizag quota in the Circar express from Vijayawada?’

 ‘Yes, but how will I manage to change at Vijayawada, that too at night, and all by myself?’ retorted Padma.

‘You’re not travelling alone. I’m accompanying you to Chennai. Since it  is a  recent introduction, not many are aware of it,’ said Soma, passing the confirmed tickets to his daughter.

 Padma could not believe her eyes. But then, she looked at the cost – roughly Rs.150/- per ticket (caused by the break/change in journey). So, if Dad were going to just drop her in Chennai and return the same evening, it would cost him around Rs. 300/-. Now, what was the cost of greasing the palm of the TTE when compared with this, she wondered. She decided to ask Dad as much ‘Why did you not even get the idea of bribing the TTE that morning?’ Without blinking, Soma answered, ‘Because, ideals are to be stood upto, and not compromised with.’

          Padma then realised the meaning of what her grandfather told about idealism being afforded only by the determined and the bravehearts!.

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