(PART II) Autobiography of A chindi chor(small time thief)

...I had kept a razor sharp blade concealed in my left hand, wrapped around my thumb with the help of a rubber band( things we learn at Manni Bhai stays with us forever). I was eager to loot this man who dared to distract me at work. He was carrying a brown old bag hanging on his shoulder & was headed towards the main street. That's where I had decided to slit his bag open & take all that he had kept. It was no longer a matter of what I would steal from him or what value would it have, it was a pure matter of revenge.

He took a right from the circle ahead & I followed him from a distance. I took the turn on the road right behind him & what I saw made me drown in to an ocean of thoughts. He walked up to an old lady lying down on the side walk, woke her up. She had made a pillow out of a dusty plastic bag with some stuff in it. She got up & looked at this man with a bit of a fear at first, but it changed into a happy face soon after. He smiled at her & ensured her that he meant no harm. He then removed a box from his bag. The lady looked surprised at first, but then I saw her wiping her eyes...she was crying. I think what he gave her was food. Then he gave her a small disposable bottle of water, sat with her for a while, had a little chat while she ate happily from the box & then he took her leave. While he was leaving, the lady stopped him & raised both her hands in the air & blessed him.

My mind was trying to process all this & understand what I just saw. What was this man upto?  Was he a kind man? Did he know the lady on the street? Was there any hidden benefit that he would get out of this? Before I could think any further, I felt a warmth of a palm on my shoulder. I, immediately got in to defense mode & was about to run away.
"You don't need to follow me like this kid" I heard this voice & my feet stopped right where they were. That voice sounded familiar. I turned around & found out that the man I was following is now standing right behind me. There was something about this guy that I don't think I can define. He had nicely combed shiny grey hair. Old round black frames, grey stubble, & was wearing a khaadi kurta pajama with black sandals. Can't tell for sure if I had ever noticed anyone so much, but like I said, there was something about him. Before I could say anything else, he said, "I think you should come with me, just take a trip in a day of my life, would you?" He said & then he signalled me with his hand to follow him.

I had no clue what was going on... I have never came across a situation like this before where someone was pushing me politely to do something.

For the rest of the day, he went to many different places & I followed him along. We went to a widow who had limited source of income to feed her kids. This man gave her food packets, discussed a few options with her about how she can work as part time maid at selected houses that he has personally verified & how he could accompany her to the house owner who is need.

After that, we went to a children's home where he took me to a special ward, we spent time with kids who were fighting cancer. From there we went to a big house named "Saahas" written on a board in front of it. This man told me that this place is a NGO. When I asked him what it means, he looks at me, smiled & said, "you will find out soon."There we met two groups of people. First group was children, these kids had no home and no family. They were all bought here by good Samaritans who  found at some public places, unattended. We played with them for about an hour & then left after distributing some light snacks alongwith small bottles of fruit juice. 

The second group we met were old age people. This group had people who didn't have any family or some of them had left their kids coz of multiple cases of mental harrassment. Here they lived happily with each other, played indoor games such as carrom, chess, etc. We played with them as well. After spending time playing & sharing some fun conversations with them, we took their leave.

It was about 9:30 p.m. & that man & I we both were walking on a footpath near railway station. I was quiet. That man told me to share with him about what's going on in my head. I stopped walking, turned towards him & asked, " who are you?". For the first time in the past 30 mins of walk from Saahas all the way to railway station, that man stopped & looked at me & then he spoke, " my name is Siddharth Nambiar, have you heard of Simplix? It's a pharmaceutical company, I own it. My parents lived in a small village of Kerala. We were poor. My father had a small piece of land that he got in inheritance from his father. However, it also inherited the debts that my grand father had. I could not be much of a help as the youngest son to my father. One day my father died due to heart failure. My elder brother could not handle things like my father. He sold our little house to the same landlord in order to settle my father's debts with him. We became homeless. My mother took us to my grand mother's place to another village. My brother started working there as a labourer. At age of 13, I ran away from that house, left my family & got into the train that was about to leave. That's how I landed up here in Mumbai. Just like you even I got into wrong company. I found circle of friends with whom I use to play cards on street, steal food & other stuff from shops.

One day I was caught stealing sweets from a shop. The owner called the cops & got me arrested. I was sent to a special jail as I was only 17. There I was approached by a man who used to work for an NGO that helped kids like me to study, change our perspective towards life & other thimgs, become a good man. He changed everything in me. I started studying, went to college, paid for my studies by working part time at a departmental store. Majored in my line of interest & today I have everything. But what I have been through, I do not want others like me to suffer. Today, I can wear expensive clothes & roam around in a luxurious car. But that will make me happy only for sometime. I found eternal peace in helping the needy. Crafting a new future for kids & for everyone else. This is my little contribution to the world."

It's needless to say that since that day that man has been with me, has helped me grow as a better human being & today when I'm writing this, I have already achieved my goals in life. Now it's time to give back to the community, help other misguided children like me & try to make this world a better place to live.

Disclaimer : All characters/places/names etc. used in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead,  any real names is purely coincidental. The views expressed in the blog are solely of the writer & do not reflect any disrespect to any caste, religion, community, state, etc.