Love All

 It was the last day of University exams. By afternoon, as soon as the last exam was over, the University ground was buzzing with happy sounds of students cheering and celebrating the onset of vacation after the two week long examinations.

Hina was happy with her performance in the exams and joyously rode her bike home. As she rode, she gently tapped the leaves of the roadside trees in joy. The winter sun was hiding behind the clouds and it was about to rain. She was midway on her way back home, when it started drizzling. Around the corner of the street near the town park she saw a man who lay on the street shivering in cold. His shirt was torn and dirty, and he was crying miserably. Hina stopped, alighted from the bike and asked him why he was crying. He did not answer. He kept weeping and shivering. Hina took her shawl and put it around him and asked him what made him cry and sit in the street.

He stared at her; her shawl had brought him the warmth of the sun on that cold day. Touched by her kindness he folded his hands and thanked her. And while still holding tears in his sunken eyes he asked her why would she want to help him in a world where every passer by looked at him in disgust and took him for either a beggar or a drunkard or a thief. In a world that detests ugliness what had such a beautiful girl as she to gain from an ugly, dirty and downtrodden man like him.

“I don’t know why you are here, and what makes you so miserable, but I don’t want you to stay like this. Will you come with me?” Hina asked innocently

“No, I cannot come with you. You will be in so much trouble if you take me along, you cannot even imagine it. Perhaps you are too naïve to ask me to come along. I am ok here by myself.”

“But you are not ok. You were crying miserably! Come home, don’t worry, there won’t be any problems” she tried to persuade him. But he insisted that he did not want to go and asked her to go back to her home before it started to rain heavily and she caught a cold.

In those few minutes he was more worried of Hina’s welfare and forgot about his own lamentations. He felt the power of her kindness within himself healing him from within. He wiped his eyes, lifted himself from the ground and told Hina that he would walk with her to her place but won’t go inside. Hina was happy to see him stand and could feel the change in his state. Both of them walked and the man left Hina at her doorstep and walked away.

Hina’s father saw her wish goodbye to a stranger who looked like a tramp and looked at her sternly as he asked who that guy was. Hina told him the whole incident. “Keep away from such people as they could be a source of trouble” her father warned her.

 Hina looked at him with confused eyes trying to ask why the two of them thought that trying to help someone could invite trouble for oneself.  Her father told her that he wanted her to settle well in life, pick up a decent job, marry a handsome guy who earns well and not just end up life helping out tramps that were social drop outs and out of job seeking to survive on other people’s kindness.

“But what makes them social drop outs? What brings them in such a state? “Asked Hina

“It’s obviously their bad karma!”

“So we should leave them like that? Can’t we do something about it?”

“Listen, it’s not your job. Understand!” he asserted.

“Daddy, do jobs define people or people define their jobs? I feel it is the prerogative of people to define their jobs. And if I feel I can make a difference to someone then please let me do it” Hina implored.

But the dad who was clear that he was doing good for his daughter said “What about me feeling for my daughter and her welfare? My daughter who doesn’t know anything about the right and wrong people, who will just love anyone on the roadside and call it kindness! I feel it is my duty to think for your welfare.”

“I respect your feelings for me but truth is you are giving me a sheath of insecurity to cover your social presence!  And if you want me to confine love by a marriage to a rich handsome guy, then how can you be sure that when you are old, I will love you? When you won’t be having these good looks and all the money that you are earning now? How will I be able to love you Daddy, if you want me to define my love by good looks and money? For a moment hold yourself in that man’s place and see, would you not be relieved if someone talked to you, and uplifted you by showing some love?” reasoned Hina

“Place yourself in my position my girl. “

“I have done that and if I were in your place I would help my daughter help people! I won’t hold her love for one person; I would let her love all! If everyone in the world thought about their own welfare only then what would be the need of having a world, people would be better off all alone. But the truth is we live with people and all people are connected to each other, if one connecting point is suffering, all will suffer. We live together to be able to help each other, love each other and if we cannot do that then there is no point in only appearing to be good. If we cannot share problems with each other, then there is no point in sharing food at social gatherings”Hina gazed confidently at her dad as she spoke this and saw his anguish melt in her gaze. 

Daddy placed his hand on her head to bless her and hugged her as he understood her intent and vision and softly said, “Love All”.