It was a balmy, beautiful Mumbai evening on Marine Drive with the sky and the sea bathed in the soft colours of dusk.... the queen’s necklace waiting to dazzle as soon as the lights came on and a sea of humanity to share the experience with...
The curving, winding promenade (on Marine Drive) which hugs the sea , is a soul-soothing haven for all who flock there in the evenings...giggly, gangly college girls, serious walkers and joggers, the random strollers, couples looking to share intimate moments in the perfect setting....trying to stay within the decorum of Indian culture but occasionally submitting to the hormonal surge, the ubiquitous lot who congregate to unwind after a long day in a tough city and of course the ‘janta’ who sit and watch the melee of people and activity and allow time to pass languorously by...
And on that perfect evening, seated on the stone parapet were two young men, probably in their early twenties, who looked like they were enjoying their time out after a hard day's work. One of them was eating potato wafers out of the familiar yellow foil packet and once done, the empty packet was casually tossed over his head to land on the tetra pods below. Though commonplace; the act rattled my sense of social and civic propriety and triggered an urgency to point out the error. But I hesitated at the thought that my point would not be well taken. Predictably, principle prevailed over prudence and adopting my politest tone and speaking in ‘shudh’ Hindi; I first requested the fellow to not take offence at what I was about to say and then pointed out that he should have deposited the empty foil in the big litter bin right in front of him instead of sending it on a flight to no man’s land! Half expecting a rude and scathing comeback I was absolutely surprised when the young man apologised at once and admitted that he had erred. Before I could react, he grandly announced that he would undo the damage and jumped off the parapet and on to the tetra pods below. Fearing for his safety, and feeling guilty, I lamely tried to stop him. Ignoring my concern, he safely and successfully retrieved the object of attention and landed it squarely in the bin!
Enjoying the episode were the usual group of voyeuristic men (interestingly women are rarely a part of such groups) making the twosome squirm under their smirking gaze! To counter that; in a deliberately loud voice I praised the youngsters for having done the right thing and added that they were really good and decent people...the awkward moment passed...
But the encounter was not over... the errant one came up to me and said (in Hindi), “Madame you are very good and nice to have taken the trouble to point out to me that I did wrong. Not many would do that. Thank You!” I felt validated and humbled and reciprocated my appreciation of their conduct....and soon we had a mutual admiration company going!
What could easily have unfolded as an ugly spectacle turned out to be a meaningful and lovely interaction with a real connect happening between strangers and both sides feeling elevated on the esteem scale! It bore out the truth in the maxim, “It is not what you say but how you say it that makes a difference’ and as a bonus brings about the desired outcome! (There are always exceptions). That evening, at least one of us walked away; happier in the heart!
PS: Wiser for the wear; the motley group of watchers quietly melted into the night!
“I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
- Anne Frank
1 comment:
interesting episode
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