During the late eve winter walk after work, I met this young delivery boy, a Tamilian, totally confused with Delhi’s street signs. I was the only person walking amid traffic then, so he tried conversing with me. The language barrier added to his confusion, making him feel that every street was the same.
I did a bit of ‘Nalla Irukingla’.. hello or something similar in Tamil. I gathered that his name was Vijay. Since I was on a walk, I changed my route and decided to guide him to the destination. As an afterthought, I told the innocent boy, no older than my son, that I would be walking on the same street where we met if he were to get lost on the return journey.
Lo and behold! After 15 mins, he was with me. I tried to help him return to the shop, which I could understand was somewhere close. He did not have a mobile or remember the number of the grocery shop that employed him. I used sign language and Hindi to converse, and he used broken Hindi and Tamil. I learned his father wasn’t around, and his Mom did housework in Delhi. He was from Chennai, and after more prodding, he said he was from Salem. So we walked for 30 mins to a location he felt comfortable with, which was near a Gurudwara. He then remembered a number and asked me to dial it – it turned out to be the shopkeeper.’s. I told him that the boy was lost, and the gentleman requested me to guide him to the shop. The boy seemed comfortable near the Gurudwara and told me he would manage, and we went our separate ways. I gave him some money and blessed him.
Takeaway
Being kind to people, especially people like delivery boys and others far from home.
~ Nitin Joshi