Wide Angle - Who is the real hero
Apr 21, 2011

Sidharth Bhatia Last week, hundreds of lucky passengers escaped with their lives when the train they were travelling in caught fire. Two bogies of the Bombay-Delhi Rajdhani express were completely gutted and the damage would have been much more had the fire spread.

What really prevented a huge tragedy from occurring was the presence of mind of 30-odd railway staff who pulled the chain to get the train to stop and then rushed from compartment to compartment and urged the sleeping passengers to get out. Each one of the 1100 or so passengers managed to jump out even if many lost their bags and luggage. After the travellers were brought to Delhi by another train, they profusely thanked the brave railway employees.

The railway authorities announced a Rs 5000 ex-gratia payment for each passenger. That was generous of them indeed. But what did the valorous staff get? A sum of Rs 3000. Not for each. This was the total “reward” handed out by the railways which amounts to Rs 100. Another report says the reward was given to 19 people, which comes to about Rs 158 per person. Neither is a particularly generous sum.

The railways have said that they would consider giving more money once the inquiry into the incident is over but not till then. If the purpose is to establish what exactly happened, why not hold back even the Rs 3000? There is no answer.

One cannot help compare this miserliness with the ultra-generosity and munificence of our politicians and others who handed out humungous cash awards to our cricketers after India’s win in the world cup. Mrs Sheila Dikshit said she would give Rs 1 crore each to the Delhi players and Rs 2 crore to M S Dhoni. The BCCI chipped in with almost the same amount to each player (and the rumour is that the players wanted more) while the Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who has survived grave charges of corruption stepped forward with offers of plots of land for each player. All this on top of the prize money the cricketers would have got and the fees from sponsors.

It can be argued that the two situations are not exactly comparable. The railway employees were just doing their job. But, so were the cricketers. We pay good money to see them play well and win. Another way of looking at it is that the joy and honour that cricketers bring to the nation cannot be quantified; this money is merely a small token of our appreciation. However, let us not forget that Dikshit and Yeddyurappa are handing out tax payers’ money and publicly owned land.

In any case, nothing can justify such a meagre amount to the railway employees who showed exemplary courage over and above the call of duty. How often have we complained of lax and rude behaviour by our public servants? When they do something really good, why not acknowledge it? It will send out a positive signal to others in the system who will feel they are appreciated. Today, what must be going on in the mind of a railway employee as he sees this callous approach of his top bosses?

As for the cricketers, handing out such big money to these already well-off players is definitely unacceptable. Let the BCCI give it, it’s a private body. But when a corporate says it will give freebies – an airline has offered lifetime free tickets – it comes from the wealth of the shareholders. The same applies to governments giving from their coffers.

While writing this, I also read about the remarkable feat of the Mumbai police (along with their counterparts in UP) in saving a little boy who had been kidnapped two weeks ago. The city police put its best teams into action and investigated it night and day, all the while aware that the boy could be finished off. That almost happened when the kidnappers got to know that the police was on his trail. But the story had a happy ending when the boy was rescued from a village in UP and brought back.

Ask anyone and they will say that the police are corrupt and inefficient. This is the widespread impression most people have, and certainly in Mumbai citizens are forever critical of their police force. But when something like this happens, citizens must step forward and show their appreciation. This was a high-profile case; there are several not so well known instances where the police does a good job. Is this a case for giving cash rewards to the cops involved in the rescue? Most certainly it is.

As a society we have to ask herself—who are our heroes and our icons? Who do we admire the most? There is nothing wrong with admiring real sporting achievement, but ignoring the small man who does something truly wonderful shows how lopsided our social priorities have become.