Help Received From Others Is A Learning Experience

HELP RECEIVED NEEDS IT'S DUE

 I was driving from one city to another capital city in North India and it had been a long drive,having started at six in the morning.The moment  I entered the destination city my car packed up.I was stuck in a strange city with a broken down car,in the middle of  a busy street  junction,at  peak traffic hour .A cop walked over to me ,asking me brusquely to move my car to the side to avoid a major traffic snarl.He was right,but I could do little.The modern car doesn’t respond to pushing and tugging if the engine is lifeless.I explained ,and he glared incredulously.Then he walked away muttering to himself,as I was left to fend for myself.

Cars, buses ,motorists,auto  rickshaws ,taxis,scooters whizzed by.I tried to thumb down a few autos,which  just sped past nonchalantly.Finally one guy in a rusty looking auto rickshaw slowed down.I requested him to help me out.He appeared to be in a hurry himself.However understanding my plight he nodded,and at my request , agreed to drive me to the nearest car repair shop.This was by no means close,and without this guy’s(whose name I found was Fiaz) help I could never have made it that far.

Once  there ,at the repair shop,he changed tack completely.From a passive participant in my endeavour (so set aright a situation),he became a source of great help.He volunteered to locate the car mechanic who was  specialized in  repair of the kind I needed.Now this mechanic was not in the cluttered,and overcrowded garage himself.Fiaz went off on his own after him ,found the mechanic at his  home and brought him over in his own auto.This gave me time to contact my original car dealership to pinpoint the possible reasons,so that I could have reached  my business in time.I was also on a deadline for some business work. Fiaz hung on .He was genuinely concerned that I should be able to get out of my predicament soon.For all I know ,I was just another customer for him and he needn't have bothered about me as much.Besides ,he was losing customers doing all this for me.I mentioned that and he only brushed it aside.

In short time my car was under the able hand of an expert  repair mechanic,and things were by and large under control.Of course it took me two and a half hours to exit the shop with a ticking engine .I was behind schedule but not totally  stranded either.I had left Fiaz by then,with reasonable compensation for his labour.Yet I feel I could never compensate him for his timely lift in the first place, and secondly for his enormous and voluntary help at the most opportune time.He could have simply left me to keep waving every body down on the street ,just like the other drivers.Let alone take pains voluntarily to resolve my problem.

It turned out that it was Faiz’s son’s seventh birthday and he was on his way to be present there with him because the child had remarked that morning that the father never came home in time to be with him on his birthdays.He ,Fiaz,did not appear to be the sort of guy to be bothered about a child's birthday.But he had promised to be present with the little boy on his “big day” on time.I wish and pray that he indeed was on time for his son’s happiness .

That  promise ,the value of that commitment ,can not be compensated by any monetary gains.

Ever.

Help received is as valuable as the recognition of  the circumstances it has been obtained in.The cost it took the provider to render the aid.It is a learning experience.There is enormous value in the learning from inconspicuous circumstances of life.

Many times the unsung heroes of real life carry deeper values than we pause to examine earnestly.