Taken aback by the kindness of strangers

Be wary of striking a conversation with a stranger” is one advice that experience teaches us. And it is not without reason.

Be wary of striking a conversation with a stranger” is one advice that experience teaches us. And it is not without reason. Not a day passes when someone somewhere has not been taken for a ride by a trickster. 
I was in Mangaluru recently for a day and, having four hours to spare in the evening, chose to visit the Udupi Krishna Temple. My colleague received me at the railway station and got me on to the bus to Udupi. 

Alighting from the bus at Udupi, I approached two elderly people there for the way to the Krishna temple. One of them gestured with a smile that it was just two minutes away, right next to the Woodlands Hotel at the end of the road and asked me to join him as he was going that way. As I crossed the road with him and walked a few yards, the other person who was on a scooter stopped near us and beckoned me to occupy 
the pillion seat. I was taken aback. I looked at both of them rather uncomfortably, but the warmth of their smiles goaded me into submission. The gentleman dropped me at the temple and left even before I could thank him. 

The boat festival was on. The Lord was being taken around in a procession. The presence of a serpentine queue for darshan gave me some anxious moments for I had to catch my train to Chennai. Some people there comforted me that the line would move quickly and as they predicted, I had a very good darshan. Unable to hide my feelings, I called up my nephew in Mysuru and shared my experience. He burst out laughing, saying there was no need to feel uncomfortable as the locals there are known to go out of their way to help people.

Enthused by his reply, after coming out, I accosted a gentleman who had just parked his vehicle there and sought his guidance for boarding a bus to Mangaluru. The gentleman just asked me if I wanted to board the government or private bus and before long I was riding pillion on his scooter. At the private bus stand, he advised me to board the bus with ‘express’ board in front so that I could reach the station faster. He even waited for me to seat myself in the bus before leaving. I could not believe myself. The locals were so caring and compassionate. If only such people spread out to all parts of this country, what a wonderful place it would be to live in.

M S VAIDYANATHAN  
Email: maharajapuram.s.vaidyanathan@gmail.com

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