I love travelling by train because we get to meet many kinds of people, especially those that have known poverty and who have had to face many tribulations in life.

During one such train journey, we met a seven-year-old boy named Laxman. Our eyes filled with tears when he told us his story.

Laxman was neither blind nor was he physically challenged, but he had not faced an easy life. His mother had ended her life a few minutes after his birth, while his father had died a few years ago from syphilis. He was not educated and wanted to know what it felt like to be a literate person.

He survived by singing on trains and earned a few rupees a day. But some days he earned nothing.

As Laxman had no one to guide him on the wrongs and rights of life, he started stealing like others.

But as he was not skilled at this, he was immediately caught. He spent six months in prison for his misdeed and learnt that it was bad to steal.

After he came out of prison he started working as a waiter in a restaurant.

We still talk about him. As for me I learnt a valuable lesson from Laxman — that we should make every endeavour to conquer obstacles.