Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Gratitude!

It was still dark as I dropped my son at the bus stop. With the customary “bye” without looking back, he straddled across to the stop. My eyes caught an old lady dressed in sari worn in the traditional ‘Gounder’ way, with two bags by her side, talking to a person. She was showing her mobile and the action happening across the street suggested that she wanted help. The man was in no mood to offer any help and just waved her away. She then moved near to my son and did the same thing, whispering something to him. My son leaned over and took the handset in his hands and I saw him scrolling and toggling the keys. Within moments, route #6oo F drove in and he was off in a jiffy thrusting the cell into the woman’s hands.
           I lingered in the car for a couple of seconds more to see what the wrinkled lady would do next, she mumbled something to herself and the sparse morning commuters had all disappeared, she was frantically pressing different sets of keys but in vain to get connected. I was perplexed and in two minds, not known for chivalrous acts and the multitude cases of cheating, duping, conning all crossed by my cluttered brain but something urged me to get out of my car and act!
           I was out in a flash, ambled across the road and spoke in Tamil “enga ponnam amma?” She seemed to be more than relieved to see me and hear somebody talk in a language not alien! She told me that she had been waiting in the bus stop for the last one hour hoping her kith would pick her up. Despite her advancing age, she was sharp, physically and mentally agile and somewhat familiar with the topography. The mobile’s battery was draining fast and almost dying. I quickly dialled a random number from the contact list as did not want to waste further time exploring the list feed entered in Tamil, due  to my scanty knowledge of the script, which I unabashedly admit and also owing to the moments of life left in the Nokia!  Searching for the name she had mentioned, “Raja” would only add more agonizing moments for the two of us.
                  A woman’s voice sleepily answered the call and I asked her without any introduction as to where the owner of the number from which I was dialling, was staying. In a bewildered tone she answered that I had got the wrong number. Not making any headway and unsure and contemplating of my next move, I fumbled with the phone when I received a call back from the number I had just dialled. To a brief introduction of the situation I was in, smart that she was, absorbing and assimilating like all Indians, told me the old lady was visiting her relative in G R s apartment on MCC street. Thanking her, and thanking my stars as the phone went dead just at that divine moment, I said I would take her to the apartment myself. She was more than happy to be helped and just as I bend down to pick up the luggage, she cautioned me that it would be heavy. Shrugging her off, I picked it up casually only to feel the weight weighing down on my arms as if I was lugging timber! I somehow managed to put it in the boot carefully avoiding her “I told you so “looks!
                    As I drove in the dawn with the beautiful sun breaking the darkness of the night, I struck up a conversation with her. She had travelled from Coimbatore, a city in Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru to visit her granddaughter who was expecting her first child. It seems she had informed them of her coming but was surprised that they had not turned up to pick her up. As I was nearing the gates of the apartment, she realized that this was her destination and had recognized it. She got out of the car even before I could do that myself and open the door for her; as I opened the trunk, the bag that was so heavy for me was pulled out by her strong hands with the greatest of ease, and I owed her strength to the years of drawing water from wells!
                             At the gate, I saw a young chap, in shorts and T-shirt and in absolutely no hurry, approaching us, the gait suggesting his lack of interest! With great reluctance, he took the bag from her and went in without even a simple word of gratitude for a stranger who had dropped his grandmother in law! But the sweet woman was holding my hands and in her moist eyes, I saw benediction and mercy...profusely thanking and blessing me for the small act of kindness.

                         A sense of triumphant consummation of a deed well done cut across my mind on my way back but at the same time, the thought of two contrasting behaviours troubled me – one of a youngster who hardly acknowledged or recognized anybody and the other of the old lady who was a symbol of grace and retribution! And I knew what was in her heavy bag- sweets and savouries lovingly made by her for her granddaughter!

19 comments :

  1. That was a great read... sharing it :-)

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  2. Thanks Archana..I appreciate the encomiums!

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  3. Very lovely story! I have had my own share of being duped by random con persons, but I still act like you. It's fine na! If you are duped eight times, but help those two really needy people, who desperately need help, I think it's a better return than any investment. The pleasure you get off the help successfully aleviates those hurts.

    Great job done, Sunita!

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    1. Absolutely...Rakesh..a sense of gratification engulfs us when we do even a small act of help and this is really overwhelming and far outweighs the trauma of being cheated.

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  4. A lesson to learn here. Thank you. :)

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    1. Thanks Indrani for giving your thoughts on this one.

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  5. As I keep saying these days, the world has become one BIG SELFIE! Good to know though that people with kindness still abound. Good also to see that you are highlighting the stark difference between the love and care of one generation versus the indifference of the next. Though having said that, there are many youngsters who still care a lot about the ageing people in their families.

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    1. Undoubtedly Lata..in this I just highlighted the disinclined and dismissive nature of the new generation..

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  6. A good read.The absence of anyone to receive the old woman shows the insensitivity of her hosts.Your voluntary help in tracing her people and dropping her at her place is a an act of compassion that is hard to come by these days.

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  7. Gracias KP sir..from the bottom of my heart

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  8. I was deeply touched as I read through your beautiful story. Random acts of kindness and compassion like these really warm the heart; thank you for doing what you did - you are an inspiration!

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  9. Thankyou Arti for the praises heaped on me..I am humbled and deeply honoured.

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  10. That was a BIG act of kindness, Sunita. How sweet of you to wait and think of finishing that act of kindness your son had started to do but couldn't complete. And you went the extra mile and dropped her off, too.
    What a lovely story. :)

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  11. It is only a tiny act D..but I am feeling happy that I did help instead of being insensitive to surtoundings!

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    1. You did your job, the guy did what suited him. That makes you what you are and it makes him what he is. No point in comparing. The story is very nice.

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  12. persons/ situations cannot be compared but one cannot deny a majority of todays' gen lack of apathy to the older people.Thanks Somali for liking the story.

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  13. You did a great job by overcoming that hesitation we generally have in such a situation.
    And for those who think world offers itself in a platter, gratitude is unknown, until one day they realize how lonely they are in their own world.

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Stop by or stumble or take a forced break and share your wonderful thoughts , I am waiting with bated breath!!!