“Kindness is a star on a moonless night. It walks with you through the darkness.”
There are people, and there are moments, but it is the gestures of people in those moments that stay with us forever.
Long back when internet was not available, I went to live in Pune shortly. One day, I went to a recruitment agency. In my hurry to leave, I left my wallet behind that had all my cash and new address. Considering that I had not managed to memorise my address yet, I should have been worried. Initially, I wasn’t bothered by the miss because the person who brought me to the agency had also promised to take me back home.
I waited for the person to come pick me up until it was dark outside. He didn’t.
Then the office closed and I was ushered outside. I panicked because I am not used to being out after dark. In small town India, girls get indoors while it is still light outside.
When I called the guy, he just said he was busy so I should take a bus, and hung up without waiting for a reply. My mobile phone was now out of call balance too. I could not message him to ask for my address. I didn’t know anyone else in the city and had no way to contact anyone.
I also didn’t have the money to take a bus and didn’t know where to go anyway since I didn’t remember the address–just the general location, which was the size of a couple of towns. I was scared and alone on the streets. Being raised in a traditional Indian family, I was used to having a chaperone everywhere after dark. I felt deserted! I wanted to confront the guy and demand an explanation. But for that, I would first have to either survive the night on the streets or reach home somehow.
At first I thought of waiting on the street; surely if I didn’t reach home by late night, someone would notice and come looking. But it was a commercial area and, once all businesses close up for the night, there would be no lights outside and I was afraid of darkness.
Also, I was no Mary Jane and my “Spiderman” had just left me to hang and dry. So I decided to take the bus.
I was shaking head-to-toe out of anxiety as I stood next to a couple of girls who seemed to be waiting for a bus as well. There was no bus stand there. They sensed my discomfort and asked where I was going. And when I told them the general location, they pointed me towards the other side of the road. Apparently, I was standing in a place that would take me in the opposite direction.
I moved to the correct side and boarded the first bus that came. When the ticket conductor asked me where I was going, I started telling him about my situation. I am not sure how many words I uttered before I started sobbing and, then, crying in the earnest. I had never cried in front of an audience before.
I told him the general direction I needed to go but when I recalled the name of the colony, he told me there was no such colony on the route. He had never heard of it. But he allowed me to ride and tell him when I see a familiar landmark.
I told him I had no money on me and he assured me it was okay.
A woman offered me water to help me calm down.
The bus was packed with people standing but, still, someone offered me a seat.
Some time later, familiar wall hoardings started to emerge. I am someone who rode a scooter back home, so I recognise routes by large hoardings, trees with particular shapes and buildings that stand out. I recognised the route now and told the conductor that this is the correct route to my home.
And then, I pointed at a road which was around three kilometres from my house, requesting to deboard since the bus seemed to be going in a different direction now. But he assured me that he now understood where I was trying to go and the bus would turn around at the next corner; that they would drop me at a more convenient and well-lit stop closer to home, so I wouldn’t have walk three kilometres on the completely dark road alone.
When I finally got down, I was just a kilometre from my home and in a brightly lit market that I recognised.
I don’t remember the faces of all those people who helped me that day because I was distressed, scared and crying most of the time and my vision was blurry. I don’t remember whether I thanked any of them.
Looking back, if I have to choose the darkest night of my life, I would choose this day when I was deserted by someone I had trusted implicitly and stopped trusting others to keep me safe. But it was also the brightest moment because I decided to try getting back up and there were so many kind people who helped me pull myself upright.
With 17 years gone, I think the gratitude is long overdue.
I want to thank everyone who ever helped someone like me. You make the world a place worth living.
Short Stories 