A Lesson From Three Men On A Highway
ServiceSpace
--Trupti Pandya
3 minute read
Mar 6, 2017

 

An elder in our local community recently shared a beautiful (and true) story from his own life.  We lovingly call him Uncle.



Twenty years ago, Uncle was cycling on a highway and his tire had a puncture. A passerby informed him that the nearest mechanic was four kilometers away, so he started pulling his bike.

Seeing this, a young man stopped his car and asked, "Uncle, do you need any help?" With a big smile, Uncle responded, "If I want to go to heaven, it is I who will have to die and not anyone else. So let me finish my own karma." He thanked the young man for offering help, and continued walking.

The young man drove away, but a part of him didn't feel good about Uncle walking so much. He stopped at the mechanics workshop and shared about the situation. Nearby, a tempo driver overheard the whole story and offered to help.

So now this young man and tempo driver took a U-turn to reach the Uncle again. They convinced him to put his bike in the back of the tempo, and all three of them rode back to the mechanics office.

While repairing the tire, Uncle expressed his gratitude for the young man and for him sharing his invaluable time and efforts. He offered some money to him but he refused it. So then, he offered that money to the tempo guy who not only offered his time, but even his fuel and services. With all the humility, he also refused: "If this young man is not taking the money, how can I? I was just sitting here without any work and when I heard about you I just felt like coming down. Diverting a few kilometers to help another human being isn't going to decrease my bank balance." So finally, Uncle went to the mechanic and offered him the money. He didn't refuse, but said, "I'm taking this because I have to respond to my boss. But even I don't feel like taking money from you, Uncle."

For Uncle, this was a very transformative experience. Complete strangers helping someone in need.

After some reflection, he took on a personal practice -- "Whenever I see someone stranded on the road, I will stop." Even if he know he can't possibly help, he'll stop. "That smile at the end of our 60 second conversation is enough to make me stop a thousand times more," he adds. "All those smiles, connections and joy are gift I continue to receive from those three men. I'm indebted to them."

The very next day, my sister and I were traveling in a hurry. And what do we see? A young man pulling his bike. As we got nearer, I was reminded of Uncle's practice of stopping to help. I told my sister to stop, so we can ask if the young man needs help. In those 30 seconds before we stopped, I could observe accelerated thoughts of resistance -- "What if he says yes and we have to spend more time? We will be late for our appointment." And so on. Petty excuses. But as the saying goes, "Your heart knows today what your mind will know tomorrow." The heart had already said yes and it never goes wrong.

Like Uncle, we too were gifted that same grateful smile. We even reached our next destination on time. It was just a matter of taking that half a minute to care.  

 

Posted by Trupti Pandya on Mar 6, 2017


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