Have you ever had a random encounter or fleeting moment with a stranger that stuck with you?
That’s the prompt for April 24 but I thought of giving it a shot today.
This one particular encounter with a stranger has stuck with me for over 12 years now. It’s surprising because I was just a mute spectator to the event and not an active participant. By yet I can’t seem to forget that incident and think of it often.
It was during my CA articleship time. I used to take the public bus or BEST, as we called it in Mumbai to my place of work everyday. Since it was one of the more popular routes, the buses were crowded. And when I say crowded I mean ‘don’t know what my feet are stamping and can’t feel my arm’ crowded. It was the routine everyday and I was used to it. My Walkman made things a little easier to bear.
This lady was sitting with a couple of bags on her lap. She was probably in her mid thirties and dressed in a sari. She wore spectacles and her hair tightly combed into a plait. Another lady was standing near where the first lady sat and had a large bag in her hand. She was holding on to the bar at the roof of the bus for support and for dear life too, I guess. Her bag was constantly hitting the face of the lady sitting, who frowned. I saw it and shrugged. It was a situation you could not blame either. One could say, at least she got to sit. So what if a bag hit your face a couple of times. Another point of view could be even if one is standing, you should not inconvenience others. This continued for a few minutes. Then the lady who was sitting addressed the standing lady and offered to hold her bag for her.
I was amazed. She actually turned a problematic situation into one of kindness. She helped not only herself but also the other lady. Her empathy won the day for both of them. This could have easily been a situation that could have ended in a shouting match between the two with ugly words to boot. But this lady turned it all around.
I was so inspired by her. Later, during my work years, I often thought how I could turn the problem into a kindness or an act of goodwill and make it a win-win for both me and the other person. Thank you lady, whoever and wherever you are. Can’t forget this incident ever.