Catch the Train - A Story About Effort, Urgency, and Survival

Some lessons sit quietly in the corners of our memories until life nudges them forward at the right moment. One of the most meaningful lessons I ever learned came from a warm, crowded railway platform in Chennai, during my college years. At the time, I never imagined that a simple attempt to board a local train would shape how I think about hard work, growth, and the urgency needed to rise in life when you start behind.

A Station, A Moving Train, A Quiet Realization

My parents had come to visit me in Potheri, a small and slightly sleepy town outside Chennai. It was one of those humid Tamil Nadu days when the air felt heavy and everything moved a little slower. After a few days together, it was time for them to return home. So we set off for the station to catch the train from Chennai Central that would take them to Varanasi.

We reached the platform a little late, and before we could gather ourselves, the train had already begun to move. Not fast enough to be out of reach, but fast enough to make you question whether to try running for it or wait for the next one.

I looked at my parents. We had luggage. My mother had difficulty running because of a health issue. My father looked worried but hopeful. For a moment, we stood there in a strange stillness while the train crept forward.

Then my mother said softly, with a mix of determination mixed with hesitation, “Let us try. We might make it.”

That was enough. We started running. Not the clean, light-footed run you see in movies. This was a chaotic, imperfect run with bags slipping, sandals scraping against the platform, and my mother gripping my arm tightly as we hurried alongside the moving train.

My friend Deb and I tossed the luggage into the compartment first. My father got in. I pulled my mother up with all my strength, and then climbed in after her. We stumbled into the coach, out of breath and sweating but relieved.

For a while, none of us spoke. We just exchanged tired smiles, grateful we made it. In that small moment, a simple truth was planted inside me.

Sometimes in life, the train is already moving. And if you want to get on it, you have to run.

What This Moment Taught Me

Years later, I found myself returning to that memory again and again. Especially when working with people who feel they started their careers from a position where opportunity was limited. People who did not have polished networks, privileged coaching, or a celebrated academic brand behind them. People who were smart and capable, but already a little behind the moving train.

I started calling this idea the “catch the train” mindset.

If you already know you are behind in skills or exposure or confidence, you cannot walk at the same pace as those who began ahead. The world will not pause for you. The opportunities will not freeze in place. The competition will not slow down to match your speed.

The train is already moving. And you need to run.

Running in this sense means being willing to learn faster than those around you. It means spending extra hours strengthening the fundamentals. It means taking on more experiments, facing more failures, and refusing to let the early challenges convince you that you are not capable.

It means accepting that you will have days where you feel tired and discouraged, but showing up anyway. It means being honest that your path may not look like the smooth, straight line that others seem to enjoy.

This is not about glorifying exhaustion. It is about acknowledging that when you start from behind, effort becomes your lifeline. Your rate of learning, your curiosity, your hunger, and your persistence become the tools that help you reach the first real milestone.

Once you catch the train, your pace can settle. But until then, you need to run like your future depends on it.

The Reality of Starting Behind

We do not talk about this enough. People often say hard work matters, but the context matters even more. If you are already on the train, hard work helps you move to a better seat. But if you are still on the platform, hard work is what determines whether you make it inside at all.

People who grew up with stronger educational backgrounds, easier access to guidance, or early exposure to the right tools and ideas have already boarded the train. They still need to work, but the degree of urgency is not the same. They are working to progress. You are working to survive. You are working to close the gap that others never had to face.

And there is nothing unfair about acknowledging that. It is simply the reality of different starting points.

But here is the powerful part. When you run for the train, when you refuse to accept the idea of being left behind, you build something far more valuable than skill. You build resilience. You build discipline. You build a story that will stay with you long after you succeed. A story that reminds you that you earned your place and that your journey is entirely your own.

The Moment You Finally Step In

When the day comes and you finally catch up, something inside you shifts. You remember the tired evenings, the failures that frustrated you, the moments where you almost stopped trying. And you realize that all those efforts were shaping you, quietly and steadily.

Once you are on the train, the pressure changes. You can breathe. You can observe. You can plan. But you never forget how it felt to run, and that memory becomes a quiet source of confidence.

It reminds you that you can catch any train in life as long as you are willing to chase it with honesty and effort.

That day in Chennai was not dramatic. It was not a grand event. It was just a small family running toward a slowly moving train. But the lesson it taught me has guided me ever since. It taught me that when you start behind, your effort must be stronger than your excuses. Your urgency must be higher than your fear. And your pace must be rapid enough to close the distance between where you are and where you want to be.

This is why I tell my team to catch the train. Not in the literal sense, but in the sense of believing in the possibility of catching up even when the odds seem unfair.

If the train of opportunity is already moving, do not stand still. Do not wait for a perfect moment. Do not assume that another train will magically arrive at a better time.

Start running. Give yourself a chance. You may fall. You may fail. You may miss a few attempts. But if you keep moving, one day you will step inside, breathless but proud, and you will know that the effort changed your life.