I recently have been travelling a lot , especially long hours on trains .I usually reserve the upper berth when travelling at night, Once I had reserved the side lower berth. the opposite side where there are other 6 berths stacked up in 3’s over one another with the upper , middle and lower berths .The opposite side had 2 young couples , probably newly weds and two ladies one in her late 50’s and another in her late 70’s or so . I decided to hit the sack earlier while the rest of the bunch opposite to me were chatting away .
-
- Side lower Berth
-
- 6 Berths Stacked up over each other Upper , Middle and Lower ( opposite to the side lower berth )
It must have been around 3 am , I woke up and saw patch of light that beamed across from the the window by my side and on to the floor . When I looked down on the floor I saw that 4 pair of legs laying on the floor !! I understood them to be one of the two elderly ladies The light shown just to highlight the spot where the eldest lady’s legs lay , I sat up and quickly took out Butterfingers ( My sketch Tab) and made a rough draft of one of the elderly lady’s legs which was highlighted by the light from out side . 
About 20 minutes in I felt a little uneasy , I put the tab away and laid back down on my berth and I tried to go back to sleep but, that uneasiness just wouldn’t go away , The image of the elderly lady’s leg disturbed me , I started thinking..
” Here I am lying down on a comfortable berth, but not sleeping . (not making any use of the facility at all ) and there on the floor right besides me lies the most weakest elderly looking legs , sleeping on the hard and dirty floor “
A sudden gush of guilt ran through me , I got up wondering if I should wake them up , but hesitated with inhibition, I wondered how I could to wake up the two ladies , do I tug at their feet , call out ? The train was too loud and I didn’t want to wake up the others ..What do I do ?
I tried to sleep it off , but I couldn’t , tossing and turning , constantly thinking of ways to wake them up without creating a scene or disturbance to others , then as if my thoughts were answered , suddenly the other lady got up to check her watch for time – This was my Q , I sprang up and asked her what had happened why were they sleeping on the floor , she replied ” tickets didn’t get confirmed, The Ticket inspector had asked them to move to the non reserved compartment and that her travelling partner the older of the two was too weak to be move. I offered them my berth , she hesitated at 1st but I got her to agree , The older lady she couldn’t even get up on her own so , we helped her up and moved her to the side lower berth , the other lady thanked me and squeezed by the side of the berth and sat looking out the window . I sat on the edge of the opposite berth looking at both them – still not feeling sleepy but definitely content 🙂
It elevated my spirits , I felt good for having had the opportunity to help .Over coming my inhibition to do the right and proper thing . The aged lady slept off all curled up like a baby and other looked out the window ,then there shone another light as day was breaking in to golden yellow , .I …felt good about the whole thing and I took out my sketch tab….again ( pic above ) 🙂
Below is the coloured in versions of the two sketches I had roughed out that day
Life Calls 
I definitely love the coloured version.
Meet too 🙂 ..thanks for the comment
I don’t sketch or paint.My creative skill is needle craft and knitting.I paint pictures with words. 🙂
“…I paint pictures with words….” Yes that is true 🙂
Lessons of life are eye openers. When we our life in comparison we learn to appreciate our blessings.
Very true , I still remember that how lucky I was compared to them , in all aspects . What medium do you use for your art work ?
A heart warming story and wonderful sketches. If only we all felt this and helped others, what a place the world would be.
Thanks , but I did hesitate in beginning , I still feel uneasy about that , but any way in the end , it worked out
yes it is hard to know how to help at times and not always easy.
True .
I hadn’t been on your blog for some time , came home a bit early from work and started where I left off last time , wow reading your posts is almost like I am there with you .
Thanks for reading. I have allot of anxiety so it is hard for me to build new friendships and takes time. thanks for caring.
Its ok , , relationships and friendships haven’t been easy for me too I can understand …still reading your blog .:)
Thanks! Greatly appreciated!
Glad I got to know the back story of the painting at your art blog – keep on blogging and nice art work .
Thank you , glad you liked it 🙂
Very nice blog
thank you ,
Thank you , I just saw some nice works on your blog too 🙂
Thank you
Nice post.
Thank you
You got some amazing nature shots on your blog , are many from hill stations ? I looked for an about page but couldn’t find one .
A common scene that rarely cares especially here in train but Its very touching. I read only your first post, and had a look on other links. Its nice.
I will visit again sure.
Always be human & caring… God bless you … because… Life is random and always changing..
Thank you for visiting my blog and for tips and also for the well wishes 🙂
A beautiful story and beautiful sketches! Thank you for following my blog, I will certainly take time to visit yours as well. I hope your day is a happy one! 🙂
Hey thanks I hope you have a great day too … 🙂
Interesting , can’t imagine what the old lady would have gone through – nice & good gesture patch !
Thanks , was good wish I had done it earlier , it didn’t occur to me until I was sketching ..feel kinda bad about that though ..
yeah but the point is you did help them eventually … that’s good .
yeah 🙂
🙂
Nice post , also that’s the thing about travels – they always have something to teach about life .. nice drawings –
..yes its true travelling does ..and thank you , glad you liked the sketches