Lower Berths and Higher Birthdays

Berthing is the process of positioning a ship alongside a dock so that the cargo operations can take place smoothly.

- Sujatha Rao

A similar issue seems to be facing the Indian Railways in terms of allocating the most sought-after lower berths.

Sometime back I saw a newspaper article that talked about someone complaining about a senior citizen not being allotted a lower berth in spite of many being available. In this regard, the lower berths in the railways seem to have become a 'berth right' for senior citizens.

But then we may have to give all Indian citizens a wide berth, considering the general mobility issues that we Indians seem to be facing across all age groups. According to the latest LANCET report, half of the Indian adult population is physically unfit as per the World Health Organization's guidelines about sufficient physical activity. Sadly, more women (57%) than men (42%) seem to be inactive. So, if we happen to see youngsters unwilling to give up their lower berths to senior citizens by coming up with all kinds of excuses, or worse still, not even bothering to acknowledge such a request, you know the reason why.

So, despite being a senior citizen, if you are not bothered about which berth you are allotted, you surely have arrived at that stage of life in some style. Perhaps, having already scaled many a career-related ladder by then, by climbing the ladder to the upper berth effortlessly, you have assured yourself a higher place, literally as well as figuratively, on the fitness totem pole.

Freedom from Birthdays