A true incident I witnessed few days ago..nothing exaggerated and nothing manipulated..
At a tea shop(khokha) around 11 in the night, a middle aged poor man with vermilion(tika) on his forehead asks the shop owner for boiled milk.
Owner,another middle aged man wearing skull cap(musalmani topi) replied that half a liter pack of raw milk is available for Rs.26 but he will charge Rs.60 if he has to boil it.
Customer gets angry at the owner for the latter playing cheat and they get into a heated conversation with toppings of north Indian gaalis.
Suddenly customer’s mobile rings and his conversation on phone reveals that he is buying milk for his 1 yr old boy admitted in a nearby hospital. He disconnects the call and we 3 have eye contact with each other.
While the customer was on phone,the owner had started boiling the milk.
Now the milk was boiled and ready,the owner hands over the milk in a bottle to the customer and asks for Rs.25 in a soft tone.
the customer with a surprised look on his face pays Rs.25,collects his milk bottle,joins his hands as if he is asking for forgiveness. The owner joins his own hands and says “tumhare bachche k liye dua karunga”.
One may not find anything special in this story but for me, here were two common stupid men donning the most stereotypical symbols(tilak and topi) from the weakest and most exploited section of the society showing humanity in the truest and simplest possible manner restoring my faith in the belief that all is not lost in the country where everyone is going insane over non existent issues or problems, where the communal divide has taken millions of lives and has separated people from their loved ones.
All you need is a pure heart and a rational mind that doesn’t get polluted from the divisive propaganda.
Stay simple, stay human, stay Indian.