Reader’s Corner : Confessions of a Cynical Mind…

When I was in boarding school, I sang a song in our class assembly. “Honesty is such a lonely word, it’s hardly ever heard…” a famous song by Billy Joel. At the time, I was only 8 and it didn’t mean much to me but growing up, I realised that honest people are rare and few to find and the word honesty must be in fact feeling very lonely!

As I got into a taxi on my way to office yesterday, I noticed the cabbie seemed to be muttering something under his breath. I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed he had tears in his eyes. Our eyes met awkwardly and I looked away. Suddenly he started sobbing and said, “Saheb, I am in trouble. I spent all my money on my wife’s hospitalisation last month and haven’t been able to pay rent for the last 3 months. The landlord came and humiliated us today in front of the neighbours. If I don’t pay the rent by 9 pm tonight, he will evict us.”
“Don’t you have someone who can lend it to you?” I asked.
“I have tried everywhere but am still short by 6,000 rupees….Saheb, where will my wife and kids go?” He replied.
“Well, there must be-“I started but he cut me off.
“Everyone used to call me Dubeyji in my area, I was respected. Now I can’t face anyone” he said wiping his tears.
As I calmed him down and said things will work out for the best, I wondered if he was going to ask me for money but he didn’t speak further and soon we reached my office. As I paid the fare and got off I suddenly felt guilty. As he started to drive off I ran behind the cab and asked him to stop.
“Look, give me a pen and paper,” I said.
I wrote down my cell number and said, “Don’t worry, call me by 7 pm if you have not been able to arrange the funds”
For a moment, he hesitated but I patted his shoulder. His face brightened up and he thanked me profusely.
I got to office and didn’t think much about it as I immersed myself in work.
I was in the gym when at 7 pm sharp, I got a call from an unknown number. I suddenly recalled the cabbie I had met.
The first thought I had was- “How silly of me to offer 6,000 rupees to a stranger. Obviously he is going to say he needs it and take it.
Does he even have a wife & kids? He probably made this whole thing up!”
I answered irritably. It was him.
“Saheb I am Dubey…the taxiwala, we met this morning”
“Yes, tell me Dubeyji,” I snapped.
“Sir, I couldn’t arrange the money” he replied.
“Of course you didn’t” I thought but didn’t want to go back on my commitment.
“Ok, come to Colaba and take the money” I said.
“No Saheb. I don’t want the money. I am sending my wife and children back to our village. I will live out of my taxi for a couple of months till I can save some money before calling them back. I just called to say thank you for offering me money but I could not find it in my heart to take it from a stranger when people I knew since years refused to help me”
I was dumbfounded. I offered him the money again but he seemed determined. Thanking me again he said goodbye and I hung up but this incident lingered in my mind and I felt like writing about it.
We live in a cynical world where we believe the worst of everyone. There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.
But there are good people, honest people and genuine people in this world. It doesn’t matter what class of society they come from or their circumstances, they never let society determine the direction of their moral compass.
It gives me hope, it humbles me and makes me want to be a better man!
Maybe just maybe… honesty is not such a lonely word after all!

 

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