The Better Side Of The Unknown

Woke up to a beautiful rainy morning, just another regular monsoon day except I was on vacation with my best friend. I rented out a bike from a local vendor and I was on my way to drop it off, not surprisingly though I was lost. The plan was to find a bus-stop where i could get a bus to get back home and then drop off the bike with the vendor so i didn't have to run around on foot looking for the bus-stop. I went around in circles for almost 15 mins but could not find a bus-stop. I called Mohammad, who rented the bike to me

"Bhaiya, mujhe bus stop mil nhi raha, aap please location bhejoge?"

"Aap exactly kaha ho ma'am?"

"Bhaiya mujhe exactly nhi pata, but yaha ek restaurant hai - the curry restaurant wahi pe hu, Panjim mei"

"Aacha aap wahi ruko, don't worry mei aapko drop kar deta hu bus stop tak"

"Nhi Bhaiya, dikkat nhi karna. Aap rasta bata do mei aa jaungi"

"Nahi ma'am, yeh bagal mei hi hai, aap wahi ruko "

"Thank you Bhaiya, mei yahi ruki hu"

He got to me in the next 5 minutes, on another bike with company

"Hi ma'am"

"Hi Bhaiya, thank you aap aaye yaha tak"

"Koi baat nhi ma'am, abhi mujhe follow Karo mei aapko bus stop tak le jata hu"

"Okay, Bhaiya"

We drove to the bus-stop. I was handing the bike over to him when I said, "dekho bhaiya meine bahut aache se use kiya activa ko, jaisa tha ussi condition mei wapis layi hu". His response to that was, "haan ma'am bilkul". He then continued to ask me, "trip kaisa raha aapka?"

"Trip aacha tha bhaiya but bahut barish Hua"

"Haan ma'am sachi, bahut barish hua do din mei, aap next time jab India aaoge toh May end mei aana, bahut mast mausam rehta hai"

"Haan bhaiya, but is baar bahut barish hua"

His heart almost sank to hear my trip wasn't as good as I had expected. He felt sorrow in my disappointment when I said bahut barish hua, bahar zyada nhi ja paye. His feelings on my "bahut barish hua" were so genuine, heartfelt genuineness. There were no words that were said but somehow he was able to communicate his feeling to me. I'd like to believe he wanted me to have a great trip and in that moment he had my best interests at heart even though I was a nobody to him. He then handed me my documents that I had submitted as collateral to rent the bike and said, chalo ma'am thank you, mujhe please rating de dena taki mujhe aur customers mile; to which I responded, haan bhaiya 5/5 rating dungi, thank you again.

He waited for me to get into the bus and only then left the bus stop.

While this was just another day in his work life - rent vehicles, drop off and pickup vehicles, it meant more to me. I was awestruck by his genuineness, his heartfelt gratitude and his pure intentions for me even though he did not know me. Do such people still exist? Today I found out, they do. I hope you'll find a Mohammad Bhaiya atleast once in your life who has no other intentions for you except wanting and hoping the best for you. While i may not have been able to express how genuine he was, I'd like to mention his genuineness reflected in his eye and body language - that disappointment when he found out i was inconvenienced, that smile when i said "aapka gadi makkhan jitna smooth tha" and that concern to wait for me to wait until i took the bus and only then leave has moved me beyond words. I am nothing but grateful to meeting you Mohammad Bhaiya, while you were being the normal you, you managed to reinstate belief in the goodness of people. I cannot thank you enough for that. I hope i will meet you again in my life, maybe for another trip next time i visit my country and Goa!

May, 2022