This is entry to Indiblogger: Around The World With Expedia! and is about how in train journey I met Mehta Uncle who made me realize how in life we should go with flow and made me aware of formation of Indian states !

“Oh my God, train is getting delayed and delayed. How will we reach Delhi in time ? What about the Agra trip?” I said aloud. It was Dusherrha vacations for kids and we had planned a trip to Agra since last two months, Kids were excited about visiting Taj- one of the Seven wonders of the world! Last night we all were thanking our stars that while all the trains from Bangalore going via Andhra Pradesh were cancelled due to Telengana rife, but our train Duronto was not cancelled. They mentioned that the train would take a detour but detour through Maharastra was so lo….ng We ended up spending extra 24 hours in the train! “Is it the worse that could have happened?” I heard a voice. It was uncle who was in the next box in our compartment. I had seen him chatting with almost everyone in the compartment (while most of us confine ourselves to our own box) . He made friends with my children who called him Mehta Uncle.

“How our emotions change with  time. Yesterday you were happy that the train did not get cancelled. Remember whatever happens happens for the best” I looked up and said  “Does Telengana rife had to happen now? What would those people gain by stopping the trains. Why doesn’t government allow them to make their own state?” “Do you know that in 1950 there were three kinds of states (Nine Part A states, Eight Part B states, Ten Part C states). In 1956 istinction between Part A, B, and C states was eliminated and state boundaries were reorganized to form 14 states and 7 Union territories. The most recent reorganization was in 2000 when Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were created.  Now we have 28 states and 7 union territories. So India has always been breaking or state boundaries being reorganized.” I said”22 states and 9 union territories is what I learnt in school. If someone asks me I have to think and start counting how many new states have been formed”. “The movement for asking for state based on language has been since the beginning. The movement to create states based on language gained momentum in the early 1950s starting with the demand for a separate state for Telugu-speaking people. A railway employee and Gandhian, Potti Sriramulu, started a fast to press the demand. Nehru chose to ignore Sriramulu’s fast. On the 56th day of his fast, Sriramulu died and violence erupted.” I looked at Uncle in amazement and felt bad that I did not know about my country. “But still Uncle why is life so unpredictable, all my plans have gone down the drain”(Interested readers can use following links to  get more information on formation of Indian states An overview of state formation and demands for separate states in India. Wikipedia’s States Reorganisation Act)

Uncle replied “No one can predict where life is going. The path ahead is unknown, however skilled, rich, experienced , old the person may be. We may all have the explanations after the event, but standing where we are, the simple truth is that we do not know where we may go. As has been said, you can never step into the same river again. It is constantly moving, changing, and hiding several unknowns beneath the surface. Everyone tries their tricks, their thumb rules and tactics. But, there is no known single, significant, time-tested method to beat life. Making peace with this truth takes time. We need to learn this lesson, sooner or later. How does one prod along the path strewn with unknowns? Anyone who has chartered unknown rivers, trekked mountains, driven extensively or swam the seas, knows the answers to this question all too well. The core skill-to canoe , climb, drive, or swim-is practiced, put to test and sharpened over time. But what makes a difference is the ability to take the appropriate action when faced with the unknown and to be alert to make adjustments on the move. Experts never demand to know what lies ahead. They instead focus on their skill to form judgments based on the information they receive and the ability to switch plans swiftly without much loss. They do not expect or command the terrain to pan out according to plan. Every one of them will tell you that they love the thrill of the unknown, but they will be unanimous in cautioning that bravado is dangerous.”

“Okay you will not get to see Taj in Agra this time. It’s sad but there is always a next time . After all yours is a fun visit, there are people here who have interviews to give, family functions to attend, clients to meet, exams to write Just look around.” I saw a Kashmiri family who had to catch a connecting train to Jammu to attend a marriage, which they would not be able to catch. I could see the disappointment written on their faces. The parents were talking aloud of how to reach Jammu next, they were frantically calling their relatives in Delhi on trying to arrange a way to go to Jammu. I saw a boy who had his head in hands, shoulders dropping, body language showing total dejection. Uncle told he was going to give an interview and now he would not be able to attend it.  The job was very important to him.  Seeing them, I was reminded of Mrs Kapoor my 8th standard English teacher favorite lines “I complained about having no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet. I complained about not having fine clothes until I saw some rags. We think our Life is filled with sorrows and woes,We haven’t thought how content we should be, By counting the blessings God bestows.” What a time to remember, I hadn’t thought about her or my school days in ages!

“Thanks Uncle” I said feeling better but still wondering how will I tell my kids. “Wondering what to say to kids?” “You seem to read mind Uncle. ” I replied. “Tell them the fact that they cannot see Taj but also tell them what have you planned instead. Kids don’t get disappointed, they don’t hold the past, always look forward” I looked at him blankly. “You could take them on a tour to Delhi – they would be enchanted with Kutub Minar, AksharDham also!” “Wow! That’s brillant. why didn’t I think of it before,” I said. “Because you were looking at glass half empty rather than half filled. Rarely does life go according to our plans”, said Uncle. “Sometimes it’s good that it doesn’t go according to out plans..we should go with the flow. Can you think some positive right now”, asked Uncle.

“Other than meeting you”, I replied. Uncle smiled “Look at how the staff in the train is coping up the change. They are trying to provide you the best under the situation. They also don’t have supplies for extra 24 hours and because of detour they have not been able to procour food from the small station that we crossed. Still yesterday night they served us delicious rice and dal. Look at how people have bonded.” I looked around and saw group of people watching a movie on the laptop, playing cards, children bonding with young airforce guys over mobile game (Fruit Ninja), some people talking about books, business. Life just moves on!