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Anjali Mariam Paul copyrights, Friends, INDIA, INSPIRATION, Jaipur, Kindness, Life, Love, Querencia, Strangers
I read a copy of the Reader’s Digest after a really long time and I came across some beautiful articles penned down about absolute strangers who came to people’s rescue. This made me realize that there is still some good left in this world and that there are millions of people who are benefited by these small acts of kindness. I have also had absolute strangers come to my rescue and I want to tell you all about this one incident.
A few colleagues and I had gone to Jawahar Kala Kendra a month ago to celebrate a friend’s birthday and while we were leaving, we decided to visit the mela which was happening right next door. It was a beautiful mela with so many tiny things from all across the country and after we had done our minimal shopping (read enough to keep me satisfied for a month), we decided to head home.
There were four of us who stayed in the same area and wanted to get one rickshaw back and as usual, went around haggling with the different auto-walahs. I have a problem with letting the auto guy have the last laugh so there is a lot of drama which goes on behind getting into an auto at a said price and as I continued with this so called award winning performance by walking to another auto guy, I fell into a ditch on the road. This was mighty hilarious and serious at the same time because I fell in knee deep and just missed banging my head on the pavement when I made my brilliant landing. As my friends tried to pull me out, all the while trying not to laugh and be concerned about broken bones, I was laughing uncontrollably. I somehow managed to stand up straight and I must say that my layer of thermals saved the day because I was almost left unscathed with just a few painful joints and aches. I got up and then proceeded with my theatrics by crossing the road and attempting to flag down an auto, much to the amusement and absolute awe of the multitude of people who had gathered around me.
When I had almost crossed over, this one auto guy and his son, I presume agreed to take us home at the price I had haggled for. I smiled to myself thinking that my injury saved the day but no, this is not the kindness I refer to. We dropped off our friends on the way and as we were moving close to our house, I realized that the pain in my hand was sort of increasing and that I might need to get to a hospital at once. Nivi looked for the hospital which my other friends Divya and Sasha had told us about, on her google map and we headed to this hospital at 10 in the night, in that same auto.
I was in pain and I was mighty excited about going to a hospital and being taken into the emergency (I have my very many quirks and this is one of them). This hospital was not really very close to where we stayed and it was a good 25 minutes away from where we were. The auto guy without any protest took us all the way there and when we got out to pay, the duo asked for not a penny more than what I had initially haggled for. I remember the pain I was in and I remember the look Nivi and I shared as we both thanked them in unison for their kindness. Before we could even think about paying them more money, they had sped off.
I only ended up getting a few injections on both my hips and laughing for the remainder of the journey home with Nivi (morphine makes you feel happy, I think). You must understand that Nivi’s kindness must also not go unnoticed because she was there the whole time and even spent the night, thinking that I might need someone there.
I remember sitting in that hospital bed, getting two shots and thinking to myself how blessed I was to have such wonderful and caring people around. Our other friends who told us which hospital was closest, were waiting for a call from us to tell them whether to make that long drive from where they stayed.
Gratitude is important but most importantly, kindness almost always goes unnoticed. Thank you!! I only hope that I can help when you are in need. To those kind auto drivers, THANK YOU!!
Much love,
Anjali
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