The lady in turquoise

Walking back home from a nearby provision store, with an umbrella in one hand and a polythene bag in the other, I was breathing in the resplendence all around. The shades of monsoon sprawled across the skies as clouds drifting by rained down and dutifully completed a cycle of water yet again. Souls of the green life lining the street rejoiced in the music of the drizzling minstrel-ed by purest voices of nature. Houses and shops of different architecture occupied allies leading to each other. Far away...in a place the eyes could not visualize...the boundaries blurred and horizons met.

I looked down at the tarred road thinking about antagonism presented by the vehicles emitting combustion smoke and loud noises of revving of their engines as they accelerated. The thought of eating the oreo biscuits and lays I had bought from the store made me hasten my pace. As I lifted my head up, I saw a middle aged woman clad in a turquoise saree with a handbag walking towards me. “Where is the auto stand?” she asked politely with a warm smile. “The auto stand is quite far. It is not at a walk able distance aunty and there are no buses inside the layout at this hour” I said as I gave her the direction to the auto stand. The lady gave a nervous smile and continued –“Actually am new this layout. I had come here to one of my relative’s house to see their new born baby. I am a head nurse at a hospital and I need to report at 2 o’ clock”. It was already around 1:20 pm. I gave her a reassuring smile as I said – “ Walking to the auto stand will be time consuming aunty. Let us ask someone for a lift”. But as I had expected no one stopped by to give the lady a lift. No big surprises there. “Looks like there is no other way aunty…you will have to walk to the stand" I said. She thanked me with another sweet smile and walked away.

I reached home within few minutes as it was just a few feet away. The gate creaked as I opened it. My red and black Hero Pleasure was parked in the portico. I was overcome by a sudden inspiration. I walked into the house and explained to my mom about the lady in turquoise. I grabbed my helmet and scooty keys…turned the ignition on and sped up the road in search of her. She had walked a remarkable distance by the time I found her. I stopped next to her and offered to drop her to the auto stand. The relief and happiness on her face was evident from her eye crinkling smile as she eagerly accepted and sat behind me.

“This so good of you my child! You went home and came back to drop me…” she kept saying as I drove. On our way I learned from her that she was a head nurse and since it was a Sunday no other nurses would be there at the hospital. She had to reach the hospital and sign the register at 2 o’ clock. It was important for her to be there in case any emergencies came up. Her husband was a doctor – a psychiatrist if I remember rightly. She had a son who was in 2^nd PU. He wanted to pursue medicine. Believe it or not she told me all of that, willingly. She even told me her name and the name of the hospital she worked in. She asked me my name and what I was studying. She was clearly overjoyed and overwhelmed to have received help from a stranger when she was in dire need of it, worried to make it on time. This led her to talk to me so freely ,without any reluctance…almost like she had know me for a long time.

We reached the auto stand and she got off my scooty. “God bless you dear. It was very sweet of you to do this. Very Good. May god bless you, my child” she said to me and blew me a kiss. There was no pretence or formality in her words or gestures. I could feel every syllable of each word she spoke. Because she really meant it. Those were not just mere words…they had come from the bottom of her heart. The heart that was touched by a small help that I had done.

We waved each other a last good bye. We would most probably never see each other again. I turned around and headed back to my house. It has been months since my encounter with the lady in turquoise, yet I find myself at a loss of words to accurately describe how I felt on my way back home. What I did was nothing great. Honestly…it was no big deal…it was a little thing...a help. Be that as it may, I have not known feeling so damned good about myself. It was one of those times that you feel something so deeply , so profoundly that you feel your heart might explode. I just felt that gooood…!!! Like I had done something right…I had helped another being even if it was in the teensiest way possible.

In case you are wondering…that’s why! That’s why it’s the little things in life that matter the most.