As I write this
conclusion few days are left for the journey to come to a halt. Thereafter all passengers
on board will be disbanding for another journey to reach their intended destination.
It is said that “A friendship born during a journey dies at the station you
leave the train” I will have to wait and watch to experience the effectiveness
of these words. I do agree that the interaction in future, among the passengers
will lessen as compared to the interactions while on board. Distances have
their own role to play. Distances dilute relations but memories keep them hooked
on. Till now enough stories have been told, let me finish the journey with a
last story.
Work brought us together
and we became colleagues, he was a colleague who in no way had anything in
common to be shared except work on some instances. Any other colleague would
think twice before having close friendship with him. Any addiction you name it,
he had it. He came to know that I had enrolled myself for the French course and shift duty would interrupt it. Once he
came to me and said “In case you need a shift change, please do not hesitate to
ask for it.” At instances I would go to other colleagues asking for a shift
change but they would regret under one pretext or the other. Having tried most
of them finally I would go to him. He would without any delay agree to give a
shift change. He had been constantly supporting me throughout, from Level-1, to
the completion of my Diploma. The
understanding and the support were so trustful and so focused that he would
turn up on duty even with a short notice of two hours.
Hidden behind the mask
of an addict, he was man so different, at times the hidden personality of a man
remains unexplored. We are gripped by the fever of being fast. Fast food, fast cars,
fast trains, fast planes, fast learning, fast earning and finally fast living.
We are more focused on reaching the destination fast rather than enjoying the
journey.
Once when the plant was
smooth; we sat together sipping tea. I asked him, why are you different from
the others? He replied “I know the habits I have, I need to renounce them, but I
got them in my teens, it has been decades in a row and now it would be
difficult for me to live without them”.
I appreciate one thing.
He knew his limit, as well as he knew my limits too. He never invited me to the
parties he attended. An addict on one hand was an admirer of education on the
other. He was a father of three daughters one Doctor and the other two Post
Graduates. Being with him for a certain phase of life has revealed me some
hidden aspects of evaluating a person. Such phase teaches one a lot. Every
person has some short comings and some plus points. What matters is “On what
are we focused? Short comings or plus points”
My Toastmastering journey was a journey about reaching out and touching hearts. It was a journey about building bridges. It was a journey about connecting with people. As the journey moves towards completion I have nothing much to do; sitting with hand crossed, as my eyes fall on the wrist watch the click of the clock seems sluggish, the movements of the hands seems fatigued and clatter in the mind fading. Towards the end of the journey let me express my sincere and heart-felt thanks to all those who supported me and about whom I haven't written or mentioned. The smooth, safe and timely completion of this journey wouldn't have been so in the absence of the guard, the driver and my Crisis Manager DTM Safare Mohammed.
