Train journeys, especially overnight ones, are always special. I usually book a lower berth for the comfort it offers. But more often than not, just as I settle in, a fellow passenger, usually older, requests it for himself or his spouse, citing age or health reasons.

Initially, I’d feel a bit unlucky. After all, I’d planned to get that berth. But over time, I began to see it differently. I realised it was a small opportunity to help someone, to practise a simple act of kindness.

Rarely it happens while flying and I miss my aisle seat because two old time friends want to travel together or an old couple whose seats are not together seek my seat.

Life often reminds us that not every right we hold should be enforced. At times, there are others more deserving. Eligibility sometimes matters more than entitlement.

This applies everywhere — in workplaces, negotiations, and everyday situations. Some get a better position though you may be deserving it and some get better incentive that what you get despite your better performance.

It’s a quiet reminder to balance what we can claim with what we can give.

Even today, when I book a lower berth though rarely I travel by train, I do it with a smile, knowing that either way, there’s a lesson waiting.
Lessons are always around us, if only we choose to see them.

P C Bala.

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