What happens to them tomorrow?

More often than not we all have had our fair share of touch with the humane and emotional side of ourselves. I have also been plagued by existential questions from time to time, but the biggest of them came on one rainy evening late at night.

Bored with the same old hostel food every day, some of us friends decided to eat out from a nearby place that sold food from a cart or what we call locally as ‘thattukada’. They are synonymous with their steamy hot food and tasty curries. And whilst we were busy gobbling up our food, I noticed an old couple standing near the cart. They looked really old, probably in their late eighties, with the man holding tightly onto the hand of the woman, and the woman standing near him nonchalantly, but respectfully, with a blind walking stick clutched on her other hand while rain drizzled down on them.

The man was looking at the cart owner, hoping for some sign of kindness but too afraid to approach him. They stood at a respectable pace away from the cart. I couldn’t make out the face of the man, but I could somehow feel the care and love with which he held onto the woman’s hand, and the equal love emanating from the woman’s clutch on her husband’s.

There was something about them..something that exuded a warmth and confidence in between them, like an unspoken truce, that no matter whatever comes we can count on each other.. that no matter whatever happens that we will not let go of each other’s hand. They waited for some time and seeing that no kindness was to come their way, the man slowly tugged at the woman’s hand and they started walking away, slowly but purposefully. They took slowly paced steps, evident of their age and the blindness of the women. But it wasn’t disappointment that I saw in them, but a rather enlightened hope, that if not here they will be met with kindness somewhere else.

That was when realisation hit me with full force, that that hope could have been me. I trotted behind, with the intent of catching up with them, and when I saw my chance I sidetracked onto them. The man abruptly stopped, seeing me. I saw the kind smiling face of the man and gave him what little money I had with me. He smiled so serenely, almost as if he knew that kindness would indeed find a way and that his hope did not have to die out, but could be rekindled to burn more beautifully. I smiled and moved out of his way. I watched them as they slowly made their way into the darkness, holding onto each other.

So many questions were lingering in my mind. What happens to them tomorrow?Will they still go hungry the next day? Where do they sleep at night? What would happen to the blind woman if the man were to, god forbid, die?Who would take care of them? In these rainy days do they get to sleep safe and sound under some roof? A million questions were passing through my mind, crippling me. For a moment I couldn't help but imagine my own parents, frail and old, alone in the darkness, begging for kindness from others. The uncertainty of that old couple filled me with dread inside at the million others like them roaming around the world. And for a moment everything else seemed so pointless.. so trivial. Where do i go from here.. from these overwhelming thoughts.. what can i possibly do..?

As i made my way back to hostel, realisation dawned on me slowly. That it was up to us, each one of us to practice kindness in our own little way, so that it may snowball into making this world a better place to live. We cannot eradicate poverty in one single day, but we can take the first step at accepting the fact that we do , can make a small act of kindness, a step , no matter however small, in the right direction.I realised, tomorrow there would be another good Samaritan out there who’d help them. World was not completely devoid of them, you’d find one in every corner. And i prayed that they would turn the right way onto one in every leg of their journey together