King Vikramaditya brought down the corpse hanging to
the tree and set out for the cemetery as usual. While Vikramaditya was walking
along, Betal said, “Vikram, now I shall tell you an incident and you should
answer the question that I ask. If you do not give a satisfactory answer, your
head shall break into a thousand pieces.” Saying so, Betal began to tell about
the incident…….
On a holiday a small group of children are playing
at the nearby two railway tracks, of those two tracks one was still in use
while the other abandoned. Only one little girl was playing on the abandoned
track, while the rest of about five were playing on the track that was in use.
Suddenly a train rushes at high speed and Vikram; you are standing beside the
train track interchange. Do you make the train change its course to the
abandoned track and save the five kids??? If yes, by doing so you would be sacrificing
the life of the girl playing on the abandoned track. Or would you rather let
the train go its way??? If yes, by doing so you would be responsible for more
death rates.
After narrating the incident Betal said to Vikram,
“O King, most of the people I asked choose to divert the track of the train and
save the five kids by sacrificing only one girl. They all felt it was sensible
to minimize the death rate by thinking laterally. What will you do in such a
situation Vikram! Answer satisfactorily otherwise I shall break your head into
a thousand pieces” said Betal
King Vikram replied, “Betal this kind of dilemma is
faced by every person in this world at this era. If we look at the incidence
you mentioned, the girl who opted to play on the abandoned track had made the right
decision keeping safety in her mind while her foolish friends choose to play
where the danger was. Personally I would not try to change the course of the
train because the kids playing on the track that was very much operational
should have known very well that track were in use, and if they had heard the
siren of the train they should have run away. If those who are thinking laterally tell
me that by changing the course of the train we might have reduced the death
rate, I feel it is not fair and moreover if the track is abandoned that means
probably it was because they were not safe. If the train was diverted to the
abandoned track, was it not putting the life of every passenger on train at
risk??? In an attempt to save a few kids we
might end up sacrificing hundreds of people due to the condition of the track.”
“O Betal, in this modern society also how much ever
perceptive and conversant the splinter group is they are scarified for the
interest of the dominating section no matter how foolish and ignorant they are.
This is the norm of the society, but that should not be the practice. This will
cause hardship for the wise who are few in numbers” suggested Vikram.
Betal replied in astonishment, “King Vikram, I
praise you for your sense of wisdom. This is what is happening in Bharatavarsha
now, a few wise voters franchise their votes to an able and eminent candidate
but unfortunately a larger section of voters influenced by currency notes,
alcohol and freebies franchise their votes to a stupid and utterly worthless fellow. It is unfortunate that the few wise people who wanted an able and
eminent leader suffer in the melee. I only wish the people of Bharatavarsha also think like you do. But you have broken your vow for silence. So, I am forced to
leave you.”
Saying so, Betal flew back to the tree.
(This is an imaginary event which is attributed to Leo
Velski Julian, who is purely fictional and was popularised through “Child
and Train”. I felt such perplexing ideas are from Vikram Betal stories so linked
it....)
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