I Saved A Life, And Realised It Later!

I live in India, and I was 19 years old when this happened. Along with my father and my cousin, I was going to a place called Hubli situated in the southern parts of India. My cousin and I were to get admission to an engineering college there.

I lived in Patna, a city in the northern parts of India. To reach Hubli, we had to take a train from Patna to Kolkata. From there we had to change trains to go to Hubli. There was a 12-hours gap in between the trains.

We decided to wait at the train station itself. Kolkata is a huge railway station. It has got 22 platforms and is like a connecting hub for trains to southern parts of India. It is a lively place; there are some excellent facilities there for people to rest and a few good restaurants.

How could I forget to mention the book store! My dad and I both like to read a lot. Whenever we were traveling, or we went to the station to receive one of our relatives, it was an unspoken rule that my dad will buy comic books for me and a novel or two for himself. As I grew up, my liking shifted to more than just comic books. Today I purchased ‘The Theory Of Everything’ by Stephen Hawking. I was looking for it for a long time but couldn’t find it in any book store where I lived. It was 2009, and I was not tech-savvy yet to buy a book online. Also, Amazon had not entered India at that time!

While my dad was resting in the waiting hall, my cousin and I were roaming around and enjoying the liveliness of this place.

Let me tell you, starting that day, every time I had been to that station, I have had exciting experiences. That day we first met a young man who was a reporter and told us stories about covering the Mumbai Terror attacks of 2008. We were thrilled to hear about the bravery of the Indian forces.

We also went for a boat ride in the Ganga River (also called Hugli by the locals).

It was evening when we returned and decided to take our luggage from the cloakroom and go to the platform where our train was supposed to come. Although there was still time, the cloakroom would have closed in an hour, so we decided to avoid a rush and took our luggage early.

We were comfortably seated when my cousin said, “Let’s get some snacks!”

He and I went to the shop on another platform. While on our way, we suddenly saw a kid lying down and a few people surrounding him. Both of us went there to see what was happening! The kid was unconscious but breathing heavily and had a foamy mouth! There was another man, possibly one of the vendors who was trying to sprinkle some water on his face in the hopes of reviving him.

He was wearing a banyan and a knicker. I could tell that he was an impoverished kid and must be begging or selling something, as did many other poor people at train stations in India.

In the crowd, there was a police constable as well. He had sent someone to contact the Railway Police Force (RPF) as I understood hearing the other people talk. But, as I listened to them more, I learned that this kid fought with some other boy who had beaten him so much as to bring him to the situation he was in!

The constable said, “It has become a nuisance! Just the other day, two boys fought over a packet of biryani, and one of them severely injured the other!

Even he doesn’t look like he is going to survive!”

The kid’s situation was worsening with every passing second, so a group of people from the crowd decided to go to the RPF office, which was at a distance. Understandable given the sheer size of this station. My cousin also went with them.

I felt helpless! I had no clue what I should do! Nobody else had any idea either! Everyone was almost sure that this kid was going to die before the medical help arrived.

I thought, we have not tried enough! But, for some reason, I did not want to give up or, better to say, stay idle and watch him die!

So I don’t know how, but I got an Idea!

I observed his body, how his body was moving as he was breathing. I moved aside from the crowd and imitated that breathing pattern on myself! I tried to copy that kid as closely as I could. I took a few deep breaths moving my diaphragm vehemently, precisely as I observed! I felt a pain in my stomach.

When I looked at the kid again, I noticed his knickers were too tight along the waist! Also, the hooks were not tied in their usual place but to one of the strips to hold the belt in place!

I told the man, who was still near him sprinkling the water,

“ He is finding it hard to breathe. Please loosen the hook of his pants. That might help him!”

He did that, and instantly the kid opened his eyes!

I had no idea even to expect that!

As far as pleasant surprises go, this was a pleasant shock, indeed!

He slowly gained consciousness, and after a few moments, he was able to sit and then asked for some water.

A medical team arrived moments later and took the child with them. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to speak to him as whatever little he said was in the ‘Bengali’ language, and I believed he should get some rest.

I was congratulated both by my dad and my cousin and also some people there. The feeling I experienced was of satisfaction that I can not comprehend or describe.

Another strange thing happened when I was imitating that kid’s breathing pattern; I had forgotten that it was a life and death situation. Or I should say I was so engrossed that the other aspects became irrelevant! I realized after some time that what I did, prevented an impending death. When I think of it now, I feel that if this did not happen, maybe the pressure would not have allowed me to think clearly, and this boy might not have been lucky