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| Jayabala Ashar (1998) |
| Courage is not restricted to
battles fought on the high seas and mountains. It can be found on
Mumbai’s notorious lanes and bylanes. And, as young Jayabala Ashar proved,
in the city's suburban trains too. Life changed drastically for Jayabala,
a regular collegian till October 26, 1998, when she boarded a train from
Churchgate to go to her college in Malad on the fateful day. A final year
student, Jayabala was in the ladies compartment when a drug addict, who
boarded the train the moment it pulled out of the Charni Road station,
accosted her. When Jayabala courageously refused to give in to the ruffian’s
demand to hand over her bag, he threw Jayabala off the train. She fell
on the tracks and the train ran over her lower limbs, changing her life
forever. What struck Jayabala the most, as she revealed later,
was the indifference of the three women who were in the compartment
when she was thrown off the train. Not only did these women not come
to her rescue when she was trying to ward off the drug addict, they
did not even raise an alarm when she was thrown off the train. As a
result, an injured Jayabala was lying on the tracks for about an hour
before women living in buildings near the tracks came to her rescue. It was to salute her courage and to rekindle her faith
in humanity that the Times of India Group via Bombay Times asked
its readers to donate money to ensure that Jayabala could, despite the
tragedy that struck her, look forward to a stable future.
Cash worth Rs 4.4 lakh was collected by the Times of
India Relief Fund for Jayabala. On November 14, 1999, a team from Bombay
Times visited Jayabala at Nair Hospital to hand over the cheque
and letters from contributors. Incidentally, now Jayabala walks-using
artificial limbs- to work. Secure with her job with the railways and
the public’s caring ways, Jayabala is today confident and as courageous
as before. And, yes, she will remain an icon of courage for the millions
of suburban commuters and people, in general. |
