Journey - From Delhi to Hyderabad

A journey is usually something everyone enjoys, filled with excitement. But what happens when a journey is undertaken with fear and devotion? That is what this story is about.

Let's start:

Krishna had finished his studies and he was working at a call center. 

One day, his friend told him, “There’s a job in Delhi with 1 LPA salary. If you’re okay with it, I’ll talk to my friend and try to get you a job there.”

Thinking it’s in Delhi, Krishna agrees. 

The reason behind for agreeing Delhi offer is "Krishna’s family was heavily in debt. He was the one his family depended on. Although he's father is working he would like to give him peace, and Krishna wanted to pay off the debts and buy a house where he could see his parents happy. That was his wish".

Krishna believed in being honest and never cheating anyone. 

Even though he knew his family’s situation, he was determined: “No matter what, I will never let go of my honesty and integrity.”

To get a job in his field of study, he needed time and he needs to do some study related courses, but that required money. Although he didn’t like the call center job, for money sake he will do that job, some how the job didn’t feel right for him.

At that moment, his friend told him about the job in Delhi, and Krishna said okay.

A week later, he received a phone call for an interview from Delhi. The interview would be entirely over the phone.

During the interview, they said the job would be from 10 am to 5 pm, and he’d have to answer customer queries and help them and some technical work will be there that you need to handle. We will provide complete training on that.

After the interview, the interviewer told Krishna “You’re selected.”

He told his parents about the selection and left to Delhi for the job.

After a 26 hour journey, Krishna reached Delhi. He got down from the train and called the person who’d contacted him to ask for the address.

That person said the office wasn’t in Delhi but it is in Ghaziabad.

He was told to take the metro rail from Delhi to reach exact location, which was about 1.5 hours from the Delhi railway station.

It was Krishna’s first time in Delhi. He had to figure out where the metro station was, so he stepped outside. 

He went to an auto driver and asked. But Krishna didn’t know that there was a way to go directly from the railway station to the metro station. Not knowing this, he paid the auto driver 200 rupees.

After getting down from the auto, Krishna realized this and thought he had to be more careful from now on then.

Later he entered the metro station.

For the first time, he boarded the metro train in Delhi, he had never even been on a metro in Hyderabad. 

He asked a fellow passenger when his station would arrive.

The man told him to follow the metro map. Krishna said okay and kept an eye on the map and the areas around him.

An hour later, he reached his station. He got off the metro and called the person who’d told him to come, asking where to go next. 

The person gave him a place name and said to take an auto from there.

Krishna took an auto and left. About 40 minutes later, he reached the location.

He called that person again, the person said, “Our man will be there. I’ll give you his number. Call him and go to the room with him. I’ll come and take you to the office.”

There, a man was already waiting for Krishna.

Krishna called that man, and the two of them went to the room together.

Krishna freshened up and waited to go to the office. But it got late that day, so the man told him to rest and that they’d go to the office the next morning.

The next day:

Krishna reported at the office, submitted his documents, and looked around the office atmosphere.

But it wasn’t actually an office it was a training center. They were teaching how to set up a business, what you need, how to talk to people.

After the training, they would give you a store to run. The investment materials would be theirs, but the store would be yours to run, like a franchise.

Since he’d already come, Krishna thought, “Let’s do something" and stayed.

From the next day, he started attending five days of training. 

During the training, Krishna found out something "For the franchise, the company required an investment of 10,000 to 50,000 rupees".

The person who had called Krishna to Delhi hadn’t told him this at all. 

Now, that man was telling and convincing Krishna to pay the money.

Krishna knew very well his family’s situation and the debts. He didn’t want to take on another loan just to pay for this job or business. So, he decided to return home.

He told his roommate that he would like to go home to arrange money. Actually Krishna don't want to stay there but the person wants him to pay money. For diversion he said he will go home to arrange money.

Then he booked a train ticket online to Secunderabad.

Just then, our Prime Minister Modi announced demonetization. 

There was no money in the ATMs, and only a few banks were open, with limited hours.

Even in the place where Krishna was, no banks were open.

Out of the money he’d brought, he had only 2,500 rupees left. 

He booked the train ticket online for 800 rupees, leaving him with 1,200 rupees. He had 200 rupees in his wallet and 1,500 rupees in his bank account.

The train from Delhi was at 5:30 pm, and Krishna left his room at 1:00 pm.

He ate a meal for 70 rupees, leaving him with 130 rupees. Auto and metro charges together cost 65 rupees.

Confident that his online ticket would be enough, Krishna decided to travel with the remaining 65 rupees.

He reached the Delhi railway station by 4:30 pm. The train came at 5:15 pm, and Krishna boarded it.

Krishna had an online ticket, but the ticket is in the waiting list. He thought he could show it to the ticket collector (TC) and request a seat. 

Ten minutes after the train started, the TC came. Krishna eagerly showed him the ticket. But the TC told him that the ticket wasn’t valid and that the money would be refunded to his bank account.

Krishna was shocked by listening TC, he said the ticket he’d bought online is in the waiting list, and he didn’t even have money with him.

The TC told him, “It’s not my problem. If you have money, buy a new ticket. Otherwise, get down at the next station.”

Krishna argued, saying he’d bought a ticket online, but the TC didn’t care and told him to leave.

As Krishna was moving to the next compartments, he saw an empty seat and sat down. He showed his ticket to the people nearby. They told him, “This will be enough. If the TC comes, we’ll talk to him.”

Then he said what was the situation of him, why he came to Delhi all the story.

The passengers with him also offered some of the food they’d brought.

Meanwhile, Krishna kept thinking about his situation he was scared and tired.

The train was passing through Maharashtra. Some unknown persons talking like "I will get down at Balharshah station". 

Krishna remembered the name of the place, Balharshah. He had traveled by the Balharshah train to attend his friend’s wedding in Mancherial.

But, It would take until 2 pm the next day to reach there. So Krishna spent the whole night awake, scared.

The next morning, without even brushing his teeth, Krishna stayed on the upper berth, chanting “Om Namo Narayana,” as he had great devotion to God.

He expected the TC to come at either 9 am or 2 pm. But the TC came at 11 am. When the TC came, Krishna had his eyes closed, chanting the mantra.

The people who had shared their food with Krishna told to TC that the upper berth was theirs, so the TC left without saying anything.

At 1 pm, Krishna received a message: “Your online ticket has been cancelled. Money will be refunded to your account.”

Seeing that message, Krishna began to sweat with fear. He thought, “At the next station, I’ll get down and somehow make my way to Balharshah.”

He thanked the people who had shared their food and got down at the next station.

The station was Chandrapur. From there, Balharshah was about 120 km away, which he came to know from an auto driver. Also he asked the driver about an ATM, he said it was near by.

But the ATM didn’t work, and another ATM had a “No cash” sign. 

Krishna was upset he was stuck in an unknown town, with no money.

Then he remembered that he had a chequebook. He wrote a self-cheque for 1,000 rupees and went to the bank. 

Weak and tired, he walked several kilometers to the bank.

Because of demonetization, there was a huge queue at the bank. He had to take a token to withdraw money. Even with the token, it wasn’t clear if he’d get cash that day.

He tried his luck at a nearby ATM, but there was no money there, either.

Exhausted, he stood in line at the bank. It took two hours for his token number to come up. Seeing Krishna so tired, a bank employee took pity on him, brought him inside, and asked the security guard to get him a samosa and tea.

Krishna gratefully accepted the food and thanked the bank employee. He took out the cash and went to the bus stop.

There, he came to know that there were buses to Balharshah, so he waited. At 5:40 pm, his bus came. 

He boarded it and reached the Asifabad bus stop in Telangana by 9 pm.

He found out that the bus to Hyderabad would come at 10 pm. He had dinner while waiting for the bus.

At 10 pm, the bus arrived. Krishna happily got in, sat down, and finally reached Hyderabad and home.

Summary:  Chanting the Lord’s name helped Krishna, and he was ultimately saved by the people around him. God tests us, but if we keep our faith in him and remain honest and true, He will always send help during our difficult times.

***“Om Namo Narayana”***

New life begins for Krishna with more twists.

See you soon.