Kindness - A Virtue

Moirangthem Arun *

Life, as we know, is based on the sequence of events which occurs to enlighten our minds, and creates drastic impacts which remind us of the very reason for existence.

The below narrative is on a true event which occurred a couple of months before, but it took me a while to make sense out of it.

In Apr 2019, I was on a holiday to Sri-Lanka to get some sunshine and to experience the sun under the blue sky by the blue ocean .

I had an amazing solo tour wherein I spend some quality time lazing around and enjoying the natural beauty that Sri-Lanka had to offer . I started appreciating the people of the country who had put in a Monmouth effort in bringing life back to normal after decades of civil war and destruction.

Every person I met had a story to tell and how it was a dream come true to see this country running back to normalcy and peace. Before leaving Sri-Lanka, I wanted to enjoy a good seafood dinner in the capital city of Colombo, which would serve the perfect icing on the cake before I finish the trip .

I had just finished my dinner and was heading back to the hotel when a young boy approached me asking 5 min of mine for HELP! When anyone is Asia tells a person, I need "HELP "the first impression we get is he is a Conman/women .

I decided to listen to his story despite acknowledging the fact that it may be cooked up. He said he came from a remote village 200 km from Colombo and was there for a walk-in-interview for a vacancy of "Hotel manager "

He was short of, 800 Sri-Lankan rupees and would not get back to his village if he didn't have the money . I asked him why he didn't think of the return fare before coming to Colombo?

He told me to his surprise there were a ‘walk-in fees "of 600 Sri-Lankan rupees . Nevertheless, since he badly needed the job, he decided to pay up the fees hoping against hope to get the job which would be worth the fees paid . Sadly, he didn't make the cut!

Now the reality kicks in, with not enough money to go home and the gamble of 800 rupees didn't pay off. He found himself on the streets, without having eaten anything for the whole day!

I enquired on why he cannot ask his family for assistance as he waits for help to arrive. He gave me an answer which would appear to most of us, coming straight from a Bollywood movie .

His mother was a House-keeping widow and shouldered the education of his sister who was studying in school . To add to his this if he informed his mother that would tense her and make the matter more sensitive .

He appeared to be genuine as he showed me his mother and sisters pic in his mobile . Though not fully convinced I thought I could trust the story .

I told him I can help fund half of his trip and took INR 200 (500 SL rupees) and gave it to him and asked him to manage the rest, with the intention that now he can reach home though need to struggle a bit.

I advised him to feed himself first as he looked quite famished!

Since the currency was in Indian rupees he was baffled and asked me for a currency exchange shop . I advised him that's it's too late for currency exchange and maybe he can ask the bus driver if he could take the INR since there are ample Indian travels to Sri Lanka .

He was courteous enough to give me his phone number and invited me to his village if I made another visit to the country . He made a hasty retreat and as he was running to the bus terminal avoiding the red light signal his last words were, he will have dinner at home .

I felt guilty of the fact that despite having enough money, why didn't I fund the rest of his journey (300 rupees) and bought him something to eat . What if the money that he had was not enough and he couldn't reach home?

I pondered on that question for some time as I left for the airport and in a haste left my mobile phone in the hotel taxi . I called the taxi driver on the lost cell in his taxi and he then advised, that he had left the airport and had a customer on board .

He assured me that he would come and give my phone before my flight leaves the airport . Somehow, I just missed his call earlier by 1 min (I had two phones) as I was boarding the flight .

I called him back and advised him to drop my phone to "KLM Flight counter "and gave one guy's (The KLM counter guy's number) to whom I told earlier told my story. The KLM counter was kind enough to help me and told me he will manage to get it couriered to Bangalore.

It was just before the tragic cowardly shooting and bombing that took place in Colombo where hundreds of innocent people lost their lives . The govt temporarily blocked the courier services till the situation normalized .

I was in Bangalore waiting for the phone and I had to travel back to Germany in a couple of weeks . The KLM guy said he will try to see if a staff member was traveling to Bangalore and could hand over the phone .

Time flew by and in the month of May, the KLM guy called me on messenger (he added me on Facebook before I was leaving Colombo) . He advised that he has managed to speak with a German passenger who lives in Nuremberg (approx. 200 km from where I stay) .

Finally, I collected my phone in Nuremberg from the passenger who got the phone from Colombo . I thanked the passenger and the KLM guy for taking ownership of returning my phone and breathed a sigh of relieve.

After collecting my phone, I went straight to MC Donald's ordered a burger and was starting to eat . An old woman came towards me and requested me to buy the burger that I was eating .

It appeared strange as it's quite uncommon to come across people begging for food in Germany and that too inside a restaurant . I told her I did not have the money (my Natural behavior of not trusting people) .

I quickly finished my burger and as I was about to walk out when I saw the old woman sitting in one corner with her head down . Instantly the entire story of that young guy needing help in Sri Lanka flashed back, Remember I had given him 300 Sri Lankan rupees less .

How I didn't completely trust the young man when he needed 300 rupees in the middle of the night in streets of Colombo . Here was a golden opportunity to make amends!

The story adds up because I got my expensive, I phone today because 3 people helped me get it (the taxi driver, the KLM employee and the German passenger) . I quickly checked my purse and managed to get coins exactly worth 300 Sri-Lankan rupees .

It would be enough to buy a Burger but instead of buying it, I gave the money to her and told her to get what she wants . In folded the old lady expressed her gratitude and I could the reflection of the same in her moist eyes.

Life comes full circle so for me it started on 12th April 2019 and ended on 21st July 2019 . I think I did my bit of helping a lady in distress and made up for the mistake I made of not helping the young boy in need in Columbo .

This incident did create an impact on me and will stay forever for the rest of my life . We all need to work towards building a better human community above caste, creed, color or religion .

Moral of the story: Always be kind to people and good things will happen to you as it happened to me, Kindness is a Virtue .
The more you give the more you get, it's as simple as that!
My name is Arun, and this was my story!

Next up Blog/Story: Coming up on 1 mole on my shoulder and 2 moles on my stomach and how I meet a person in Cologne, Germany.