Noble! Aren’t we all noble beings? Or, well, we try to be, don’t we? We do the best in our capacity and hope that the things will turn out good. But then again, we aren’t perfect. We have our ups and downs. We do make mistakes despite the good that we always think of doing, and repent for the mistakes we did. Because there’s humility in agreeing that we are wrong and humbleness in making attempts to make the wrong right! The mistake would be not learning from that mistake. So, we take one step at a time and hope that we land on the solid ground that we so dreamed to fall onto. 

What is that enables us to be generous? Now I will take a hard turn and change the complete blueprint of the post. We are all working hard to get the money that we earn. We all are. Nobody has it easy. But then, once in every while, we find some or the other asking for money, just like that. They will be coming to your home with laminated posters and whatnot. Perhaps a cause or whatnot. When you are getting something from the society, you have to give back to the society. That’s the interim rule. While it is a personal choice, most of us do it for the fact that we are generous, while we believe that it is how we could repay the world back, or perhaps expecting something in return for the generosity.

Honestly, I don’t like people asking me for money. No, I am not hard earner and I didn’t break sweat or anything to get what I got, but then again it still is mine. And basically, I don’t have enough money for myself, to give to someone else. But I manage. So the following few incidents happened with me :

I don’t usually travel by train. But then again, it was financially advisable since my pocket was bleeding empty. I had just got into the train went to my allotted seat and settled myself. The train had just arrived and hence the crowd was pretty less and also that it was the starting point of the train route. As soon as I settled, I still had like 10 minutes before the train could start to move. I got my headphones from the bag and I was settling back in the seat when a guy stood in front of him and started his sad story, how he had nothing on him, that he had forgotten everything at home, even the pan card, let alone the debit cards or the cash. Apparently, everything was forgotten at home. But he had his purse with him. He kept insisting that he had really forgotten at home and somehow wanted my help to get back home. The return journey would cost quite a bit. So, he wanted me to give the money so that he could head back home. Now, I was in a dilemma of what to do. I have a habit of not saying no. I just can’t in most cases. Instead, I do whatever they ask me to do. Because, that way, the conversation would either end there, with them. This was sort of different. And I was pretty sure that he was trying to rip me off. And I had a very bad feeling about this. I might probably have given the money if he had shown some sort of identification. But there was nothing of that sort. I, with great difficulty, told him sorry and said that I can’t help him. But he insisted while I had second thoughts. I thought of going to the ticket counter and getting the ticket along with him, just that he would go home. But then the train was about to move and the ticket counter was on the other side since the platform I had boarded the train was in the center. Amid that dilemma, he got down as the train started to move. I don’t know what he did later. Wait, he stood outside my window and try to persuade. Besides that, I don’t know what happened to him.

People, important notice, kindly note: When you see a person who has earphones in his ears, it just means that they don’t want to be bothered. So, when you see someone with a big ass headphone and sitting in the far corner, you don’t go there asking for what time it is or whatever the agenda might be. You leave them alone.

The other day I was at the popular fast food restaurant. It was pretty late since I had just gotten down from the office cab and there was quite less crowd at this time, but the crowd was still there. I was listening to music and sitting at the far corner of the restaurant. I was pretty much invisible like I am most of the days. But not that day. A guy stood in front me. I was busy engrossed in the phone checking something on twitter. And I didn’t at all notice this guy standing in front of me. But I sensed a shadow move and I looked up to see a guy who started talking. My music was loud in the headphones and I was unable to hear anything he was saying. I gestured him to hold on a min as I paused the song that I was listening to on repeat. I took off my headphones to hear to him. I thought he was asking for some review of the service being provided at the restaurant and he wanted what I thought of the service that was being offered. But he had a completely different agenda. He was feeling hungry and he had a bus to catch in some time and unfortunately, he had no purse and no money as a result of it. He started with his story which I don’t think I wanted to hear. Perhaps, that was a bad day or I just didn’t want to be bothered. So, after he had told his story which I didn’t listen to because I knew how that worked. I decided to give him what he wanted, a burger. So we go to the counter, leaving my food there on the table and letting it go cold. So, this gentleman initially told me to decide what he should eat, but then he started giving his own preference. I just paid for what he was wanted and left to my seat since it will take a bit of time to arrange what the had just ordered. A short while later, he sits across me with the plate in his hand and starts eating the burger. Now, I don’t want to make fun of this, but let’s just say that his style was unique per say. He divided the bread, the paneer in the middle, the ketchup went to another corner of the plate. Mind you all of these were separated and he started eating his roti. I had no idea I have been doing eating burger wrong all these years.

Well, I didn’t expect anything in return nor did I want to become a part of this facade every now and then. I would like to contribute in the way that I feel good about now, not when someone knocks on my door asking for the same.

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#ZtoAChallenge
#WeAllHaveAStoryWeDontTell

#ZtoAChallenge is a world-recognized challenge (it will be soon), wherein people (i.e. me and I alone) write posts on a specific theme (or just random stuff) to challenge oneself to writer better and hopefully learn along the way. This year’s theme is We all have a story we don’t tell. Hopefully, I will try to bring out the story as truthfully as I can. What I mean to say is I will try my best to write as much as I can and hopefully bring out what I really wanted to convey, those in between the lines stories.