It’s good to be suspicious

Myth: It’s bad to suspect others.

Fact: It’s always good to be mildly suspicions as it will help you evade some unforeseen troubles and dangers, by gifting you with the powerful armor of extra caution to shield yourself.

Are you vulnerable to trusting someone very easily? To be frank, I am not, or I should say I don’t blindly trust anyone other than my parents, or to put it in a better way, when it comes to people other than dad and mom, I always carry within me a mild dosage of suspicion and carefulness, and my instincts have helped me many times in avoiding some really worst incidents, right before start. So, before jumping in to the conclusion that I am totally wrong, give it a second thought and you will definitely agree to me. A mild dose of paranoia is always good to safe guard yourself; especially when you are in strange places in the company of people whom you don't know well. This holds true even with people you know, or even when you are walking in the evenings or even travelling in a bus or train. The person near you, walking behind you, or sitting close to you can never me a heavenly angel, and definitely won’t be a thug or a robber always, but a mild level of paranoia will help you protect yourself, and will gift you with the extra sensory perception to anticipate and avert a possible trouble or danger that may be lurking around without your knowledge. Being in a society where murderers, chain snatchers, looters and all the sort of antisocial elements walk around  in the best possible ‘gentlemanly’ face, identifying  and separating the harmful and harmless would definitely be not be as easy as you think. Therefore, it is always good to have a set level suspicion, I repeat it’s a set level, and should not go overboard, as it will definitely help you than do any harm.

I can tell you an example to prove this, as this very evident in case of frequent travelers who are often noticed carefully, trapped, and attacked for money and jewellery. I've seen a lot of people in buses and trains who often trust fellow passengers too readily, and start talking intimately as if they were friends for years together. I really wonder why people do bother to talk so deeply to a stranger, just to get rid of the boredom of a journey! There are many other things that can be done during travelling, like reading a book, texting friends, listening to music, or even looking outside and watching people and vehicles around. Yet many people soon walk in to the strangers’ territory and ‘make friends’ in minutes, which I think is the best way to invite a possible danger. To avoid being taken undue advantage of, it’s always wise to keep away from such short chitchats and be aware that you can never measure the level of others' motives or honesty.

But once you get rid of the shell of blind trust, you can soon find that your instincts would often turn out correct, and you will less likely regret for being suspicious than for being too trusting. Trusting others is never naive, but blind trust is more than dangerous, and trusting people who are less known to you is the worst of the lot. Yes, trust is essential, and is the very core of our life. But that in no way means that you should trust someone blindly and open up your entire self in front of them.  Be watchful, and don’t let yourself pay a huge price for blindly trusting someone.

PS: On the flip-side blind suspicion would also do immense harm if you are not aware of where to draw that vivid yet fine line. So make sure to set your suspicion to the requisite level, and not even a degree more.

In memory of some treasured travel moments

Be it long distance travels or short journeys to nearby places, buses are the only traveling option that I am allowed to choose, and I can never even think about the liberty to enjoy a rail journey, as my family is totally against taking the ‘risk’ of traveling in trains, especially at nights. Thugs and robbers do make wise use of the lack of security and hop in to local trains unlawfully, even without paying for the tickets, in turn looting the passengers and sometimes harming them fatally. So, to be frank, I cannot blame my parents for curtailing my traveling options as trains have now become the soft spots for all sorts of crimes and robberies. Yet, I still do long for train journeys at times, and later pacify my mind by repeating about the possible dangers that are lurking around the corner.

Since childhood, trains have always triggered immense fascination and joy, and train journeys have always left-away some worth carrying memories that still hold onto.  Being the granddaughter of a railway employee, I was always blessed with some wonderful chances to listen to some really fascinating stories about the train journeys that he has taken so far, and about the various railway stations where he had served a major share of his life as a dutiful stationmaster. Now, even in is eighties, I can see a vivid glimmer in his eyes whenever he starts saying about train journeys. I can surely say that I would be the only one in my family, who can give a complete account of all the official & unofficial trips that he has taken in his life, and these stories undoubtedly triggered a huge liking for train travels, which were totally allowable until the last couple of years. Till then, I had absolute freedom to travel in train whenever I wanted, and I never missed any chances that came though.

In fact, the project research phase of post graduation was the time when I had some of the most wonderful train journeys in my life, in the pretext of visiting libraries close by, for project research. Although I did the research part to the best of my ability, I was more in to enjoying those train journeys with my classmates, which gave me a lot of happiness that words can't express. All of us used to literally rush into the coach to get to our seats, and I always used to manage to get myself a comfortable seat near the window.  Whenever I wasn't lucky enough to get a seat for myself, the upper sleeping berths were my next favorite option, where I can sit comfortably and watch fellow travelers, wondering where they are going and what there story would be.  Added to these joys of traveling was savoring the coffees and cutlets that were served and reading my favorite books: both augmented my pleasures to several manifolds.

But all these excitements soon stopped, and there were two reasons behind it. If one was a small mistake from my end, another one was a tragedy that left away a huge fear in the mind of train commuters, especially women.

Let me tell you my mistake first. I was on the way back from our usual library visit, and was walking towards the railway station.  Rather than taking the straight roads, I used love crossing railway tracks and reaching the station soon.  As usual I was on the way to the station, crossing the long railway tracks when an engine started coming towards us stealthily. It was only when my teacher shouted from the other end that I saw that monstrous looking engine a few steps ahead, all set to trample me under its huge feet. I quickly jumped to the other track and saved myself, but my teacher was ‘merciful’ enough to narrate the whole ‘adventure’ to my dad, and there ended the lifelong liberty that I had for train travel. Sadly, I had to start depending on the jam-packed local buses that were far from being comfortable.

Adding to this mild curtailment was the news report of the tragic night when a twenty something woman was pushed off from a moving train and was brutally raped to death by a beggar. Although it happened a few years back, fears still linger, and again, train journeys became a more distant dream for me.

Whenever I hear the whistle of a train, I still keep dreaming about all the fewer yet wonderful train journeys that I’ve had, hoping for one such to happen again someday.