THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HUMANE
It all began with a thank you.
“Madamji, why are you thanking him?”, said a young man addressing me, but seeing towards his friend. “You are going to pay him for a service rendered”, he continued.
The friend looked at him with a poker face. He was fine either way, his face reflectively seemed to say, thanks or no thanks notwithstanding.
I was standing at one of the hotspots of dynamic India, the humble pavement cobbler’s shop, one of the several lakhs spread all over the nation. Twining with the several more lakh roadside tea shops, these are the best locations where politics, movies, poverty, and wealth get discussed, and debated, where friendships get formed and broken, where arguments escalate to wars, cold and otherwise, and also where arguments get downsized and sorted out.
As the cobbler packed my now repaired shoes, he sent the youngest of his seated companions to the nearby Nancie Kulfi Faluda shop for a change of 200/. His torn T-shirt had seen better days and the track pants muddied with the area’s dust. Surrounded by broken shoes, slippers, and sandals, shoe repair equipment including the quintessential magic glue, the thread and a big needle, and slipper flaps tied along the electric pole, he looked very much the entrepreneur.
On this particular morning, I joined the company of 3 men of differing ages, but who all seemed to be in a common state of Zen. They were sitting quietly staring away from each other, comfortable in their own companies, while their cobbler friend continued his repair work.
And then I said thank you.
As the young man with prematurely greying hair gently reprimanded me, I, in all my wisdom began a philosophical talk. “ Bhaiyya ne mera kaam kiya na, to thank you to banta hai”, I began. “Hmmm….”, he replied, cutting me short. “This is true too.” Thus proceeding he commented, “some customers do give thanks and others the contrary.”
Taking cue the cobbler joined in. His woe needed an audience and he now had one. “ Yesterday a Madamji fought with me for over 20 minutes for 20/-. Finally, I folded my hands and told her to take her sandals. I did not want the payment.” His thin, sallow face became more determined and his eyes a tad bit larger. “ And guess what? She took her stuff and walked away.” A little loudly, he continued “ As if she would become a billionaire by restricting my 20/.”
I looked towards the kulfi faluda stand. The young man was still holding my 200/-. It seemed to have got forgotten. There was an animated conversation on the way between him and the kulfi seller, surely over some important issue.
Meanwhile, the discussion was just heating up at the cobbler stand. The young man with prematurely greying hair pointed to a standing car and began his episode. He was an Uber driver and that was his vehicle. “A few days ago I got a call for an airport drop at 3:00 am. I was not feeling well, but money has got to be earned. So I proceeded.” The apartment building he mentioned happened to be my residence too. My interest deepened.
“The passenger”, the young man continued “realised soon enough that I was indisposed. He made me stop the car, told me to rest in the back seat, and drove the car to the airport. Once there, he gave me baksheesh too, and counselled me to take some rest. His goodwill cheered me and I continued the day” he concluded with a bright smile on his equally thin and sallow face.
The others nodded in approval. I was intrigued by who this gentleman was. We were, after all, almost neighbours. Meanwhile, the money change arrived, and I repeated a thank you. This time all smiled and I went off while the conversation continued, in all probability on an equally important matter.
Curiosity by now had got the better of me. Once inside the apartment building and while waiting for the lift, I made a decision. I pressed the stop button for the 7th floor, the young man having given me the address too. Stepping out of the lift I felt foolish. I just stood outside the apartment for a minute or so, and then proceeded home, thanking God that no one opened the door.
The gentleman’s gesture, some may feel, was nothing out of the blue. Such incidents happen the world over all the time. But the smile of the taxi driver as he narrated his happy episode and the pride he shared on his experience just reiterated the lesson. It is important to show kindness. It may mean nothing to the giver, but it re-energises the taker
It becomes a small cheering moment in a life of daily challenges.
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