The purpose of this post is threefold. Firstly to serve as a step-by-step guide to other admins who wish to be of assistance in emergency situations such as this, for on occasions I may be travelling or off-line and unable to intervene. Secondly it also throws light on the frustrating nature of the exercise at times and how it is vital not to give up and throw in the towel after initial setbacks. Last but not the least, I also wish to acknowledge the glorious efforts of the unsung heroes/heroine in this episode.
> As soon as I saw the SOS post at about 7.10 am, I google searched for the number of Agra Fort Rly Station. The choice of the station...
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was made because the train was scheduled to reach there at about 8.45 am, which gave me more than an hour's time to activate the rly authorities there. However, what I got were the numbers of Agra Cant. and Raja-Ki-Mandi stations. I tried these leads but the response was " Yeh number mauzood nahin hai ". Feeling frustrated, I went for my morning walk and came back half an hour later.
> During the walk I was ruminating on Plan B. I decided to leverage my SBI connections. Got back home and again google searched for SBI offices in Agra. I hit pay dirt when I obtained the mobile number of the Branch Manager of Agra Cant branch and received an instant response on dialling it. A lady picked up the phone and being an inveterate " MCP " , I assumed it was the BM's wife, till she confirmed that SHE WAS THE BRANCH MANAGER HERSELF. I introduced myself as a retd. Chief Manager of SBI and narrated the tale to her about a traveller in distress & the urgent need for help. I asked her to get me the number of the AF station. She was eager to help but did not sound very sanguine of success. Voila, in less than 5 mns time, she called back with the number of the station and also that of the CM(Commercial). My eternal gratitude to her for her initiative and lightning-quick response.
> Armed with the requisite information, I first contacted the CM(C) and he gave me a patient hearing. He asked me to directly contact the Station Superintendent and provided me his number which tallied with what I already had in my possession. I requested him and he readily agreed to put in a word himself to the SS so that the matter was accorded due importance at that end.
> I then spoke to the SS and he too heard me out fully. He asked me for the following details, which are ESSENTIAL, in all such cases . Train name & number, name of the passenger, coach number, berth number and PNR number. But I did not have the name of the passenger and PNR number. He replied " Koi baath nahin " and queried " Kya doctor bhejna hai, kya ". I said yes and he assured me that he would do the needful. His name was Mr. Kishen Singh. Later on it transpired that Mr. Kishen Singh kept his word and ensured that the passenger was taken care of. May God bless this conscientious and kind public servant.
> The moral of the post is that we can rarely do anything single-handedly and most of the times there are always characters behind the curtain whose efforts go unacclaimed and unsung. I would like IRI to raise a toast to these 3 good samaritans who went out of their way to be of help in the emergency.