The milk of human kindness

In the autumn of 2002, a cherished dream of mine came true. I had passed out of 12th grade and had gained admission in a degree college of my choice. This dream-scenario had a minor glitch. The college was 45 kilometres from my home.

In spite of having a condition which limits my mobility, I was ready to commute by bus. However, my parents advised that I take an auto. Since we were unable to arrange for a regular driver, I was forced to flag down a different auto every day. A couple of months into the course; I encountered an assortment of drivers. There were big booming bullies who tweaked the meter and demanded sky-high rates. And sneaky sly specimen who would hoodwink me with the “alternate route” trick, meandering through dingy lanes before ripping me off. There were ones who rudely declared that they had no change, expecting me to forgo Rs. 8-9.

Among these was the exception —a mild-mannered rickshaw driver who routinely returned Rs. 10, claiming I had paid “extra”. This unexpected act of kindness impressed me so much that it remains vivid in my mind to this very day.

Another incident which warms the cockles of my heart was to transpire the following year. Our entire class was to finish an assignment within 48 hours. A friend of mine completed her project in 24 hours. When I confessed that I was only half-way through, my friend handed me her own assignment suggesting that I copy the second half from it and pass it off as mine! I couldn’t dream of cheating, hence refused. However, I still think of my friend and her altruistic offer with fondness.

Recently, I had ordered a pair of earrings from a Singapore-based jewellery-designer. My friend had previously shipped many pieces of jewellery to India through mail; she did the same this time. Unfortunately, the earrings were either lost or stolen during transit. Since the earrings were more about sentimental value than aesthetic appeal, I was a bit disheartened. However, I soon put the incident behind me and even placated my friend saying that had I been destined to have those earrings, I would have received them.

In less than a fortnight, I received a courier. I opened it and was astounded to discover that my friend had shipped another pair of earrings without charging an extra penny. Along with the earrings, she had enclosed a hand-written note which said, “You are destined to have whatever you wish for”.

I can’t help but reminisce these heart-warming incidents. As a famous quote goes, “The world has two types of humans —the givers and the takers. The takers eat well, but the givers always sleep better”.