Of generosity and more
Gaurav Gaur
It was one cold Sunday morning, after sipping my tea and reading newspaper, I went on to take a shower. As soon as I opened my wardrobe, a pile of clothes stared me in the face. It was the moment when I decided to donate all clothes that were not worn frequently. And I hoped to find people who really needed them to brave the cold. Cherry on the cake: I had something productive to do on a day off.
After having my brunch, I stepped out with a pile of clothes in search of beneficiaries. After sometime, I came across a construction site where labourers were working. I took along some sweets so that I could break the ice and have a little decent conversation with them. One of them saw me and asked: “Sahib ji, can you wait for 5 minutes),” I replied in affirmative.
I waited for almost 10 minutes before they stopped their work and came to me. When I opened the box of sweets, one of them asked me is it was my birthday to which I replied: “No, I just wanted to make new friends.”
After they were done eating, I told them that I have some clothes and if they wanted, they could take them. Reluctantly, one of them said to me: “Please show us what you got so that we can decide.”
Most of the clothes were taken by one or the other worker and at last, I was left with a pair of jeans. One of them wanted to have it, but he was in a dilemma.
“Yeh mere size ki nahi hai, (this is not of my size). If you have something that fits me, I’d take,” he quipped. I asked him why can’t he get them fitted for his size, he replied: “Give it to someone who really needs it. With me, it will be nothing but waste.”
He did not want to take the jeans just for the sake of it. I was touched by his honesty, integrity, generosity and lack of greed. He was a hero to me that day.
