His humility touched me…….

Living in a busy town like dubai makes you overlook the small injustices that go on around you; not a long while ago I found myself in a group of people who were describing the Indian community in Dubai. I must say that despite them being my company, I realized I didn’t want to be there, I wanted to be in a place where I didn’t have to look at a person because of his race. Colors or tribe; I wanted to look at a person and listen to he/she had to say, without thinking of his/her appearance;

I am not innocent in criticism and judgment and I am not proud of this but after this experience today, I feel I need to change my view of life and people; I was at the supermarket about 150 meters from my house. Not a great distance if you ask me and I purchased a melon which weighed about 6kgs amongst other foodstuffs. The supermarket offered me someone to carry my shopping to my doorstep. This should be normal in most supermarkets in this area.

There was something about this guy that caught my eye; he was frail and skinny. He was sweating and his shoes were dusty. He took on my luggage with a cracked smile, he was weak and tired…as we walked on to my place, he was smiling, it was genuine and humble; it was in a way sweet; we had gone few steps when he came tumbling down with my shopping after him, he didn’t trip, he just fell, in a split of second he was up, my shopping with him.

“Sorry madam”, he managed to smile….

Why do I tell you this story? It’s because I gave him a bottle of water and asked him to sit by the pavement to rest a bit, and I am sure I saw a tear in his eyes when he sat down. I didn’t want to ask him more but I felt humbled to meet such humility in this unjust city, probably he had nothing to eat or was overworked but he still kept a smile and was humble as ever… I am not trying to be too emotional but I felt sorry for this guy and for the many Indian people I have talked ill of or made jokes of..

Life goes beyond four walls; life is in the eyes of the person who walks by you, the one who smiles to you, who holds your hand. Life is all around us not only about us..

Open your eyes and smile to your neighbor, he may be suffocating in his world, he may be exhausted, he has a right to be there just like you have a right to be….

His humility touched me deep inside, I only wished I had time to talk to him more….

It’s a lesson learnt, a lesson shared…..