Little Help, Big Gesture

Walking along the pavement in the dimly lit evening, I munched on the burger I bought at McDonalds. My dance classes were over and I was returning home with my friend, Arun. He had been my friend past a month, since we shifted to the new home. I didn’t know the whereabouts, but I always had Arun by my side. Strolling down the dimly lit footpath, all my senses seemed to be obnubilated by the taste of the burger. Still, my senses were reliable enough to notice an old man, a poor, fragile frame that was reduced to a skeleton like those in concentration camps of Adolf Hitler! His skin seemed to have ex foliated to the extent that his body parts were wasted, and his body was characterized by inflaming nodules.

“Leprosy…poor soul” I murmured with pity.

The old man had a blanket beside him, which seemed to be his only possession at the moment. Wrapped in the blanket was a 5-year old boy, pale with the chilling cold. The old man was sitting near a snacks stall. As Arun and I waited for our reserved taxi, I couldn’t divert my mind from the old man. The old man had managed some 16-17 rupees, his day’s earnings through begging, and he must have counted the money almost 10 times before he stood up with shaking legs, that seemed more like timid, fragile broomsticks with his back still bent in an awkward position. He motioned to the vendor, giving him 15 rupees, and sat down with a bowl of hot biryani! He smelled it, satisfying his nostrils. Then moved over to the 5yr old boy, his grandson (I suppose), feeding the little soul with the delicacy in small amounts. After the bowl was finished, the old man licked the bowl till the last drop was finished, which failed to satisfy his hunger. My world seemed to stop at the moment. I looked at the big, stuffed burger in my hand. My taxi also arrived in the meantime. I had to go, but I wanted to stay. As Arun stepped into the car, I caught him by his sleeve and dragged him to the old man.

Arun quickly said,”Oh! These beggars. They always manage to trap merciful people.” And he took out his wallet and dropped a coin in front of the man.

The man didn’t even touch the coin, rather he said,” Please give me food. My boy is hungry!”

“He’s not a beggar.” I retorted.

But Arun got into the taxi.

“Are you coming? Or shall I take tear and show some flesh to attract you!”

The old man understood him. I looked at him with pity and glared at Arun.

“I’ll take the bus.” I was too shocked to argue with Arun and was even more shocked to witness that what feelings a friend of mine can have for an old man, even though he is a beggar. I cursed my ability to judge people. But now, what was important to me was that I had to help them.

Finding a hospital in an unknown area is not at all difficult, but it is a problem, when you have two needy people by your side at 8.00 in the evening when transport facilities demand high fare-charges, especially after seeing someone in peril.

I felt my pockets to notice I had left my wallet in my bag. MY BAG! I looked at the highway. My bag is with Arun. I remembered I handed it to him while buying the burger.

“Wow!” I looked up at the sky, opened my arms wide and said, ” Thanks!”

The skies were so clear that it seemed you could see the angels dance in heaven.

I waited with them to look for someone generous enough to guide us correctly to the hospital and also agree to take the other two. After a long time, we noticed a rickshaw. I waved my hand at him. He came reluctantly at first, then hurried towards us. A clear emotion of excitement, doubt and happiness on his face.

“Is that my boy?” he exclaimed, as I tried to digest what was happening. “Mohan, He is my Mohan.” and he cupped his hands on the boy’s chin to see his face. An utter feeling of disappointment crossed his beaming eyes.

“I thought he is Mohan. I lost him years ago.” he apologised.

I felt extremely sorry to witness the change in the man’s emotions, but I asked,

“Will you help us?”

“Yes. Sure. Come sit. Make the boy comfortable.” he was more comfortable about the boy than anything else.

We dropped the two at the local hospital, and then he took me to my home. I entered my home only to see my Dad’s glaring eyes. I didn’t care. I knew leprosy is contagious. I had to clean myself. As I ran past my Dad, he bent to grab my hand, but I darted towards the staircase to my room. I took a bath first.

When I came downstairs, my father was extremely happy. I could not understand what had happened.

“I’m proud of you, Son.” Dad said as he ruffled my hair.

Later, I got to know that Arun had searched for me all the way to the hospital. The receptionist had told everything to Arun which was conveyed to Dad.

Dad had already contacted the NGO Anandvan (Started by Baba Amte) and reported the matter to the organization. He had also made a generous donation of 20,000 bucks. The NGO agreed to bear the hospital fee and promised to care for the two souls.

Days later, when my convent school got to know about the news, it decided to give me a scholarship! Things were happening so fast I believed it was all a dream. I was on a roll!

One day, I was called at the school’s auditorium that was packed with our school children. My class teacher, Ma’am Chitra, came rushing to me.

“You’ll give a speech. You’ve to ‘orate’.”

“But Ma’am, you know how stupidly I speak even in a regular class.”

I squinted to scan the auditorium. It was just like another day, young boys lost in their own world of WWE, trying to replicate the best moves they saw last night, girls gossiping about the torture a lady was going through in a daily soap, captains and vice captains trying to silence the obstinate ones, and my dear old classmates, making faces to make me laugh, but this time I was not a part of the audience. Then there were eminent people in blackberry suits…wait!

“You’ve got guests here?” I inquired my teacher.

Ignoring my question, she frantically said, “Go, Go. See they are calling you.”

I reluctantly walked over to the dais and introduced myself. My friends and classmates made funny faces at me, trying their best to make me laugh and be a fool.

“This is not happening.” I told myself.

“It’ll we be good. Just blurt your feelings.”

“No. It, ll be bad. You should not have bunked your English classes.”

“Keep your cool. Everything will be fine.”

“A thousand people are hearing you. Hearing ‘Your English’.”

I tried to keep silent while Mr. Optimist and Mr. Pessimist argued.

“So, here we have our hero.” Ma’am Chitra exclaimed as she looked at me. “Would You like to say something?” She asked me over the microphone.

“Umm. I-I…Hi! everyone.” Saying this stupid sentence used every bit of confidence I had. I noticed my friends giggling at me.

“Say something.” Ma’am Chitra said in a hushed voice, covering the microphone.

Silence, accompanied by hushed giggles.

Understanding that I had lost it, Ma’am Chitra announced, “Our hero is so excited he has no words to say.” and saying this, she managed a fake smile at the audience.

“Let us ask some questions.” she continued.

“What caused you to help the man? He could be a regular beggar. How did the urge to help come out so effectively?” she asked over the microphone.

I was so thankful to her for having managed the situation so effectively. But now I had to answer her. After straining my forehead and thinking over my answer several times to check for some grammatical errors, I said,

” I just thought, What if it was me…”

“Just that? Now you are worthy of a slap! ” said Mr. pessimist.

After two seconds of silence, claps, appraisals and an increased confidence level were my gifts.

“Why and What do you want to change in this world?” came another question like a dart hitting the bull’s-eye.

I looked at the audience, which was staring right into my eye.

“Blurt it! Blurt your feelings. Pour them out.” advised Mr. Optimist.

I continued, “I have helped a person who was actually in need, thus I proudly tell you that this experience more thrilling than climbing Everest, is more sophisticated than an act of decency, and is more simple than doing nothing!

I want the world to change, so I’ll have to be the change.”

 

I remembered some phrases in Robin Sharma’s book- Who will cry when you die. So I was finally able to orate…

 

“We live in an era where we have Smart Phones and Stupid people.
We live in an era where pizzas show up faster than an ambulance.
We live in an era where we can fire missiles with pin point accuracy but we have trouble keeping a date with our friends to go to a picnic.
Today, we can easily put a man on the moon, but have trouble walking across the street to meet a new neighbor.
We have e-mail, digital phones so that we stay connected yet we live in a time where humans were never less connected.

WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHEN WE HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT!

I thus want to change the perspective, the vision, and the paradigm of the society, the nation and finally the world. The world is indeed a beautiful place. And as I end this composition, I enunciate an extract from Robin Sharma’s ‘Who will cry when you die?’:
“I respectfully ask you, who will cry when you die? How many lives have you touched while you have the privilege of walking this planet?”

The world needs love, trust, and today we lack it. Let us try to be more helpful, kind, generous, loving. Let us try to be humans!
This is my message; this is what I want to change in the world.
A spark lights a fire, my single effort would definitely raise many chances. Are you with me?”

Pin Drop Silence. I could hear birds chirping outside.

Wait. Was this me saying all this? Did I say anything wrong. I was baffled at myself. I was shocked to notice that I had given such a powerful oration. But after few seconds of stunned silence,

“YES! We are with you.” cried aloud the amazed audience.

__END__