Living gods are still around

 

Diwali was on the next day. There were festoons and sparkling serial lights everywhere in the bazaar. The sales were brisk with shops awash with goods in glittering colours and designs on the shelves and platforms and with an overflowing crowd of people eager to buy.

 I had nothing in particular to buy but came to the big departmental store to while away my time watching people buy things crazily, maybe on borrowed money. I saw a woman in her early forties, with a small boy and a girl slightly older in tow in the store watching the shelves from a distance. From her appearance and ordinary dress, I could surmise she was not in good circumstances. The young boy was tugging her at every shelf and pointing out some item or the other he desired. She  dragged him away gently but firmly. The girl was quieter and was seen comforting the boy.

I saw them moving towards the discount counter offering, long held but unsold, dresses at dirt cheap prices. She selected after a long time two dresses one each for her kids and moved towards the sweet stall. The boy wanted many delicacies but when his mom bought half a kg of the cheapest sweet, he started crying loudly. She took care to make a detour to the gate by avoiding the fireworks and crackers section.

As they were nearing the entrance, someone collided against the girl who was holding the sweets packet. The box opened and all the contents fell down on the floor. When the girl quickly bent to pick the sweets, the security dissuaded her saying it was a very dirty place with so many people walking in and out. The lady’s face was grim as tears trickled from the eyes of the girl. The boy started pleading that they go back to buy again. But the lady dragged them away outside.

I could not forget the faces of the crying boy, the silent girl with guilt writ large and the sad woman. I wondered why God kept some in perpetual want while some in needless plenty. It made my heart heavy and I lost the mood to linger anymore in the shopping centre. I had no money in my pocket then to give. But I collected her address saying that I would come soon with some sweets and crackers. A man next to the security, who was listening to the conversation, nodded his head at me with a smile.

An hour or so later, I went to the one room tiled tenement. I saw a white van of the store with its name on it on the road outside. The room was not bright with a dim light. There was a man in a driver's white uniform standing with two large baskets in his hand.

” These baskets are for you and your children. My boss, the owner of the shop, every year on Diwali eve gives gifts like these to some unknown people. He saw you and your children at the entrance of the departmental store.  Please have no worry as he is a very decent and good man,“ the driver said.

The boy jumped with joy and the girl smiled. The woman after some hesitation accepted the baskets to find new and good dresses for all, plenty of sweets of different varieties, fruits and crackers for the kids. There was a cover addressed “To my sister, Happy Diwali” with 1000 Rupees inside. 

The driver smiled at her and said “Yes, this is the way my boss celebrates Diwali each year bringing cheer and smile to some unknown needy family. He is my living god”

“Mine too,” I said as I handed over the two packets and added “Here is my small bonus gift for the girl who dropped the sweets and the boy who missed to see the crackers section.” 

The joy and the smile on their faces, I felt, would bring me greater cheer and happiness than what  the festivities could offer

(Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good;;try to use ordinary situations)