On April 18, 2025, I was coming back home from my nani’s place. Took the Howrah Shipra Express from Gaya to Howrah. Nothing fancy — just a regular long journey. My nana came to drop me off, and somewhere mid-journey, I went to get a cup of coffee.
The guy at the stall said, “₹20.” But I had seen the price printed on the cup — it was ₹15. I asked him why he was charging ₹20, and we had a short argument. Before it could go any further, my nana — being the calm person he is — just paid ₹20 and told me to let it go.
But I couldn’t.
I went back to that stall after a few minutes and told him straight up, “The price is ₹15. Why did you overcharge?” I clicked a photo of the stall and vendor — just in case. Two guys from his group came and tried to offer ₹5 back, saying, “Bhai le lo, ho gaya.”
I said no. Because honestly, it wasn’t about ₹5. I could afford ₹5. But what if someone else couldn’t? Why scam people just because you think no one will say anything?
They got nervous. One of them came to my nana and again said, “Please take the ₹5, and ask him to delete the photo.” I told them I’d delete it after I filed a complaint.
I went ahead and reported it through RailMadad. Around 15 minutes later, I got a call from Railways asking what happened. I explained everything. Soon after, they called again and said, “Issue resolved.”
Nothing dramatic happened after that. But I felt something I didn’t expect: proud. Not because I got ₹5 back. But because I didn’t stay silent.
Most people ignore small scams like this on trains. “Chhodo yaar, chhoti baat hai.” But these “chhoti baatein” happen daily. And they pile up. People take advantage because we don’t raise our voice. This time, I did. And I’ll keep doing it. #kaamkibaat