A train journey

Many a reader may empathise with the plight of Mr. C.A. Nair (‘Open Page’ – “The experience of a train journey”, June 30) but I strike a note of dissent. Neither the gracious TTE nor the station superintendent had the right to allow any such passenger “to pass through the gate” stealthily. Rules are rules. Losing one’s wallet in the washroom is not a reason for any passenger to pull the emergency chain.

Mr. Nair ought to have been handed over to the station superintendent with a ‘handing over memo’ at the destination for realising the fare amount due from him (without penalty in this case) as the problem cropped up on account of his own carelessness. The outgoing TTE’s benevolence in giving Mr. Nair Rs.20, and from his pocket, was the only appreciable aspect in the story.

J. Eden Alexander,Thanjavur

This happened in the 1990s. I was travelling from Bhimavaram Junction to Bhimavaram Town with all my original academic certificates in a book and kept it in a wire bag that I had placed on the luggage rack. At Bhimavaram Town, I forgot to pick up the bag and realised this only after the train had left. I recovered from the shock and telephoned the station master of Akiveedu, the next station, on the advice of the Bhimavaram station master. He located it and kept it with him. I hope that the Railways continues with this practice of helping passengers and winning their hearts.

T.S.N. Rao,Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh