Moment of kindness

 My tryst in South Africa was rather interesting. Even after being mugged, I continued walking and found myself closer to the city market. Immersing myself into the whole experience of what happened earlier, I was ‘shaken up’ by a shout.

‘Hey’

‘uh , Hi’

‘You shouldn’t be here’

Since I was surrounded by hundreds of people in the market, I asked him,

‘Why not?’

‘It’s not safe. You look innocent’.

Now, I have heard many things said about me in my life, but this was the very first time someone was telling me that I looked innocent. I smiled. Chris, who spotted me, was sitting on a crate on the footpath, selling locks and keys among several other tit bits.

‘Where are you from?’

‘India’

‘Let me drop you’

‘What?!’

‘It’s not safe. My car is here’ pointing towards a fancy Mazda parked straight in front of us.

‘But hey, please don’t bother. I am just walking to ICC and its not that far’

‘No worries let me do this’.

‘Don’t you have to do your business?’

‘It’s okay, nothing much happening. Let’s go’.

He packed all his stuff into the boot. Everyone there seems to know him. Kids were calling out to him and I heard a girl in a beige school uniform telling exaggerated stories on why she didn’t go to school last week.

When he opened the door, I wasn’t sure of what I was getting into. Guess I was either mentally and emotionally too tired with the experience I had just had a few minutes back or just wanted to go with my natural instincts about trusting another fellow human being and I got into his car.

‘Chris, How can you really afford a car like this?’

‘Oh, I work in the municipality. I close the roads here’. (I didn’t quite really understand but remained silent. He took a de-tour to show me some more parts of the city including some heritage buildings)

‘Here, the wages are quite low that I can’t lead a luxurious life I would like to. So I spent one hour everyday and the whole weekend in markets like this and earn some extra money’.

I couldn’t understand how he could lead a luxurious life by selling locks and keys. Anyways, I was too tired to think. Chris told me that being a foreigner, I should be more careful.

‘The streets here aren’t safe Gopi! You never know when you get mugged. People kill for even silly things like mobile phones. Please be careful’.

 I didn’t know how to react. I was still not sure why he was offering me a lift, and I couldn’t get myself to tell him about how the two boys conned me into giving away my phone.

Chris dropped me in front of the ICC.

‘Chris, thank you so much. I don’t know how to thank you’

‘Gopi, you take good care. May be our lives will bring us together someday.’

‘I hope so Chris. How much do I owe you?’

He paused, switched off his engine and asked,

‘You really think that I gave you a lift because I wanted to make some extra bucks?’

I walked away apologizing and thanking him at the same time. This was a moment of kindness that I don’t want to forget in my life.

People like Patrick, another driver I met during the travel made a big difference to how I understood the destination South Africa