Although we never like to admit, Indians have a blatant disregard for our lives. Don’t believe me? Well, just look at the way we get on and off of public vehicles. If we’ve to take an auto-rickshaw, we’ll get into an over-stuffed one by pushing everyone else out of the way. And even though the auto will stop at the destination, we’ve to jump out without seeing where we’ll land. Since this behaviour is equally prevalent among train passengers, one of them learnt why they shouldn’t do so in the harshest way possible.
Mumbai Mirror reported that 25-year-old Ravi Balu tried to board a running train at Panvel Station. He would’ve died underneath it if it wasn’t the heroic efforts of an RPF constable present there. PRO of Central Railways, Sunil Udasi said,
“The train was running at approximately 30 kmph. When a few passengers started screaming seeing Balu hanging for dear life, Shinde sprang into action and saved his life.”
Balu said that he was running late and tried to board the running train. However, he lost his footing and was about to slip into the gap between the train and the platform. However, Constable Vinod Shinde saw this and risked his life to take Balu out of harm’s way. Balu and Shinde escaped without any physical injuries.
You can watch Vinod Shinde’s heroism here:
#WATCH: Railway Police personnel & passengers save a man's life while he was trying to board a train at Mumbai's Panvel railway station. (CCTV footage) (14.07.18) pic.twitter.com/13DNtlJfaK
— ANI (@ANI) July 16, 2018
The reason why normal people like us differ from these real-life heroes is evident in the video itself. You can see a passenger trying to pull Balu out but backing away fearing for his life. On the other hand, Shinde leaps to rescue him without thinking that there was an equal chance of him being sucked into the gap along with Balu.
Humans have divided life into years, days and seconds, thereby living in a perpetual state of rush. However, unlike Balu, we shouldn’t let those factors push us over our limit because we’ll always get another chance tomorrow. And if we die, then that’s the end of the story. So, until we learn this simple fact, I hope people like Vinod Shinde are always around to save us from imminent danger.