A short video of a train journey has been making the rounds on the internet, with netizens appreciating the way a father has used a small incident to impart a silent lesson to his son about responsibility.
The video, posted on Instagram by Deepak Samal, shows his two-year-old son bending down to pick up chips that had spilt on the floor of a train coach.
A small moment, a lasting lesson
In his caption, Samal described the setting. He was travelling by train, watching the landscapes of Bharat pass by. The coach, he wrote, was clean and calm. Then his young son, in a playful moment, dropped chips on the floor.
Samal has explained in his caption how he was travelling on a train, watching the landscapes of India rush by. “A small incident, a big lesson. I was travelling on a train, watching the beautiful landscapes of Bharat pass by the window. The coach was clean, calm, and it felt good to see everything neat around us. Then a small incident happened. My 2-year-old son, in a playful moment, scattered chips on the floor”, he wrote.
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“For a brief second, I had an easy option. I could have quietly cleaned it myself. It would take only a few seconds. No attention. No discomfort. But I paused. Because sometimes, convenience steals the lesson.”
“I gently stopped him and asked, ‘Who should clean this?’ He looked at me, unsure. I explained, ‘This is not our home, but it is still our space. This train belongs to everyone. When we make a mess, someone else has to clean it.’ There was silence. Then slowly, he bent down and picked up the chips. “
After a brief silence, the toddler bent down and began picking up the chips. “No scolding. No anger. Just a moment of understanding,” he added.
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“Cleanliness is not taught through instructions. Civic sense is not built through slogans. It is shaped in everyday moments. Millions travel daily through Indian Railways. Keeping trains clean is not just the duty of the staff, it is a shared responsibility”, he concluded.
Watch the video here:
Internet calls it ‘real parenting’
The clip drew a flood of reactions. Many users praised the calm approach. “This is real parenting. Lessons taught early stay forever,” one comment read. Another user wrote, “Every parent should teach children public responsibility like this.”
Several viewers pointed to the wider message about civic sense and shared responsibility in public spaces. “If everyone thought like this, our public spaces would look very different,” one comment said.
