Well it is an old movie, it might seem silly to some, too idealistic to others but I think it is soo imperative that everyone of us pay it forward. I was just thinking of all those occasions that someone totally not related or known to us come across our lives n help us out when we really need it and we just dont have that chance to pay it back to them than just say a biig thank you from the heart. Well what do you do after that?
I remember this one incident I can never forget. One fine evening I took an Amtrak from Newark n was goin all the way up to Ann Arbor. I was sittin right next to a late 40s/early 50s old African American gentleman . We had a small chat, he was headed to Detroit had a fond recollection of Cass Avenue n downtown Detroit, on what he did, a lil bit bout his family etc... All thro the morning n noon I was busy with some stuff n kept skipping my meals n was famished. I was thinking of grabbin something from pantry. This guy stepped out of his seat n asked something like 'want somethin to eat? ' n before I cld reply he walked off. I too headed to the pantry didnt see him anywhere nor did I bother n all I had in mind was how loong i had to wait cos the pantry was packed. I kept staring @ the menu , n picked up the turkey club, the iced tea n a bag of chips virtually. I then pulled out my wallet as my instincts said I didnt have ne cash. I checked , I didnt have any, jumped out of the line walked up to the counter n asked if I cld swipe my debit card n got an affirmative nod. Had a sigh of relief n walked back to the line. I waited eagerly for my turn placed my order n gave my card n guess wht, the lady tried to swipe, stared at the machine walked in n walked out. 'apologies sir, this wldnt work'. Loong night,growling stomach n was almost in verge of a breakdown. The train wld reach toledo early morning, nother transit, n go home n have an early breakfast with sister, its ok. I had made my plan. I walked back to my seat n I find my support pulled up, a sandwich n bag of chips nicely placed n a drink tucked up in the front. This man asks me 'where have u been I was lookin out for you? I got u som'in to ea' n that 'some'in' was a turkey sandwich , some chips n iced tea. May be thats all that was there in the pantry but I just cldnt believe. I sat down n told him bout how hungry I was n wht happenned in the pantry. He just grinned n looked up n I interpreted that as its all taken care of from up there. I knew that the train wld reach in such an awkward time in the morn @ Toledo that i will not get a chance to pay it back to him nor did he buy me food expecting anything,n even if I do so its just not gonna be as much.
Well whats the big deal with this incident? While I was in school one of my worst nighmares was to walk down the overhead bridge in Tambaram..there was this frail lil thing - a very old lady, no teeth n partially blind who used to sit there hoping someone wld help em( the word is beg i feel too delicate to use it). Its such a sorry sight to see n guilt takes over walking past her, so everytime I have a few rupees I wld walk up to the canteen get some food n give it to her. I was very shy n discreet bout that. Nothing was bliss to me than watching that toothless smile of the old lady.
Is there a connection bet wht I used to do in school n what happenned in Amtrak, I dont know n I dont care. I am not too religious, I dunno if it is Christ or Krishna watchin over my shoulders, well my mom takes care of the praying. What I believe is everyone of us have to pay something back to the society we come from. This again I see as being selfish cos I just said pay it back to 'society where we come from' mean I do my lil charity back home n not where I make my money.Did I pay it forward in u.s , singapore or am i doing it in bahrain is something we can contend but point is I do pay it forward.
Why do we have sorry faces around, everyone is trying hard to make a better living, lets give them the credit n make someone's day , we all are blessed in some way so lets be thankful for this life. I want to quote these lines from S&G (thanks Arun) which is soo true to the current world..
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.
4 comments:
hey good one once again. i totally agree with ure point where we must start thinking abt giving back to the society. most people i kno r cribbing abt how they dont hav gr8 jobs or a bigger pay but forget that most of us r in a much better state than we were 10yrs ago. so we still can do a little bit for the soceity. i also agree with u that we give back to where we come from. evrytime i go back to chennai i donate to a charitable instituion there. i guess im selfish in a way.
There is some degree of selfishness - those who just think of themselves n family, those who help thier 'community' based on language n religion, n those who look beyond all these n think of mankind as an entity - the real enlightened ones..
Practically speaking, most of the time, such strong feeling of giving back to the society and other idealistic thoughts are too ephemeral. By the way, how to save money to buy the Mustang. :)
machi dunno how to put it the more u give the more i get.....mean good will always pays dividends, ive seen it.
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