Amudha Amma: A Mother’s Kindness on the Saptagiri Express
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Every day, the Saptagiri Express begins its journey from Chennai Central Railway Station at 6:25 AM. Sometimes, due to morning traffic on the busy platforms, it departs a few minutes late — around 6:30 AM. For thousands of passengers, this train is more than just transport. It’s a lifeline connecting Chennai with Tirupati, carrying pilgrims, workers, students, and small traders. Inside the compartments, life is a story in itself. Families clutching bags filled with offerings for Lord Venkateswara, tired workers returning home after long weeks in Chennai, small vendors balancing baskets of fruits and snacks, and even singers walking through coaches, offering a song in exchange for a coin or two. It was on one such morning journey, around 8 AM, that I witnessed something unforgettable. As the Ticket Collector (T.C.) made his rounds, checking tickets, he stopped before a man who had none. The passenger, visibly poor, admitted he had no ticket and no money to pay the fine. His silenc...