Blessings from the poor

This is something that happened quite some time back, when I was still in Mumbai for my internship. I’d forgotten to write it in all those busy weeks.

After a terribly hectic day at work, I was on my way to Olive Kitchen and Bar at Mahalaxmi for Tommy Hilfiger’s new footwear launch. I got off at Mahalaxmi station and asked one of the vendors which side to get off (I can’t remember now if I wanted to go the west or east side, but let’s assume it was the East).

I got onto the road and waited for a cab. I was already very late for the launch and there wasn’t a taxi in sight. I decided to start walking hoping I would get one soon. It seemed as though I had been walking for about half an hour and I still wasn’t anywhere close to Olive or finding a cab.

I finally asked a shopkeeper where I’d get a taxi to go to Olive. He asked me which side it was and I said “East.” He smiled sympathetically and told me that this was the West side.

I groaned in utter frustration on the inside and desperately asked him how to get to the other side. He pointed to a taxi stand across a busy street and told me that the cab would take me wherever I wanted to go.

I thanked him and after what seemed like another 10 minutes, crossed the road, stopped a cab, asked him to take me to Olive and closed the door hurriedly behind me.

Just before the driver could take off, an old man came to my window and knocked. I looked at him with impatience at first since I really needed to get to the launch. I couldn’t understand what the man was saying so I rolled down my window and asked him what he wanted. He told me that he needed to get to this particular place and he didn’t have any money.

At first I wasn’t sure what to say or do. The old man was dressed pretty shabbily and looked like what one might term as a beggar. Having been in Mumbai for almost a month now, I had begun to look at these characters with suspicion after having heard terrible stories about their cheating tactics.

I asked the man where he wanted to go and it turned out that it was quite close to the Race Course where I wanted to get off. I asked the cab driver if he could take the old man. I would pay the entire fare, that wasn’t a problem. The driver told me that it was my decision and if I wanted then he would take the old man in.

I didn’t really have a lot of time to think and so I let the old man get into the front seat.

Once inside, I was a little scared to be honest. What if this was some sort of an arranged thing? What if the old man and the cab driver were some kidnappers or something and this was a planned way of looting me? (Yes. I’d watched too many movies to believe this was possible)
I sat nervously in the back seat, praying. But then a voice inside my head told me that being in Mumbai had made me too cynical and pessimistic. “See this as an opportunity to help someone for a change,” the voice told me. And then, unbelievably enough, I did relax.

The entire way the old man kept turning at the back with his hands joined and thanked me over and over for letting a poor man like him ride with me. He told me that he urgently had to get to this place and he had no money. No one was ready to take him. He had a huge family to look after and they had barely enough money to eat one meal a day.

I didn’t really know what to say to all of this. I kept silent, but listened to his story. Every time he joined his hands to thank me, involuntarily I would join my hands too, telling him that it wasn’t a big deal, and it was my duty to help him.

He got off at Race Course and before the driver sped off the old man blessed me from outside.

Something strange was happening inside me and I felt sort of good that I had given myself a chance to be of some help to a needy person.

I reached Olive in about 2 minutes after that. I got out of the cab and told the driver that I’d just make sure this was the place since he too wasn’t very sure about it. He told me he’d wait and I went to ask the security guard at the gate.

While I was gone, there was an elderly couple on their way back from the Amateurs’ Riding Club, waiting to take the cab.

I got back and took out my purse to pay the driver while the couple got in. I handed the driver a 100 rupee note since I had no change. The driver told me that the fare was 16 rupees and he too didn’t have any change.

I stood there for a while wondering what to do. I went to a few nearby people to ask them if they had change for 100 rupees, but none of them did.

I went back to the driver in desperation and told him that I really didn’t have anything other than a 500 rupee note.

At this point, the man in the back seat asked me how much I needed to pay. I told him that it was 16 rupees. He told me that he’d pay the fare. I looked at him sheepishly and told him that I didn’t have any money to give him in exchange. The man woman smiled at me and said that I needn’t worry. They would pay it for me. It wasn’t much and anyway they too didn’t have change to give the driver.

I stood there dumbfounded and utterly grateful to the kind couple for helping me out that night. I thanked them and they left with a smile.

It was a strange incidence. I had always heard that good things happen to good people and that if you help someone in need their blessings really do come true. But it had happened to me the first time or atleast this obviously and this quickly.

I whispered a soft ‘thank you’ to God for this incident and made my way inside Olive.