Sir,

This is with reference to Dr. R. Balasubramaniam’s article “The Democracy of the Indian Railways” in SOM dated Mar. 11.

The article aptly highlights an unmistakable facet of India — that of the norm of ‘adjusting’ a.k.a ‘swalpa adjust maadi’ in our sometimes endearing and often difficult-to-refuse vernacular request. The writer rightly states, ‘we share a country the way we share those compartments.’

In a large and diverse country like India, we knew we could not, and we cannot, always find ourselves conveniently placed in our own mental and physical ‘First class, AC or General’ compartments. We knew the value of accepting one another.

Despite our disparate lives with deep social divides and different cultures, we somehow managed to create some space for each other, sometimes willingly, sometimes grudgingly, but we did it anyway.

And this is not to say things were always hunky-dory. We did have some gut-wrenching episodes where the concept of ‘sharing space’ was totally discarded.

However, these episodes were mostly triggered by those ill-disposed towards harmony, but in the end, the ordinary, common man managed to limp back with some dignity. His belief in unity was shaken, but never forgotten and ignored. And in that lay our strength.

Indeed, today, the question is “are we willing enough to make space for each other in this large, beautiful, chaotic place that we Indians can all call our own?”

– Dr. Nasheed on e-mail, France, 14.3.2026

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