The Obliging Indian

I have experienced many events in my life. Most of those events are ordinary ones. However, I have experienced some unforgettable ones.

A few days ago, I  traveled from Manila to Surabaya. As there was no direct flight, I had to make a stop-over in Singapore. Once there, I wanted to visit the Novena Church together with my friend Eddie. We went there directly from the airport taking the state-of-the-art MRT. The MRT is excellent and makes travelling within the city very comfortable. However our trip to Novena was rather tiring because we brought our heavy luggage along with us. I brought a trolley bag, but Eddie brought two ones. That physical effort was especially difficult for me because I had a cold since a couple of days ago. Hence, both of us were very tired during our stay at Novena. That’s why we decided to take a snack at the canteen before leaving. Once we were done I needed to blow my nose because of my cold, but I did not have tissue paper, so Eddie asked me: “Do you need some tissue paper?” and I replied: “I will just take some from the toilet”. Then a few seconds afterwards, an Indian approached Eddie. Until that time I barely noticed his presence at that canteen. It was like he just appeared suddenly from somewhere. Frankly speaking, he looked to be a bit poor because he was very thin. In fact all his bones were clearly noticeable. Also because the clothes he wore was very simple, it was not fashionable at all. Besides, the Indian looked a bit old, because most of his teeth were missing and the skin of his face was sagging. He was bringing along with him a little black plastic bag. When he was in front of Eddie he put his right hand in the plastic bag and then slowly drew out a green "Kleenex" pocket-sized tissue pack. Using body language he moved his hand holding the green "Kleenex" toward Eddie as if offering it to him. Obviously, I thought that he wanted to sell it to Eddie, but then Eddie asked: “Is it for free?”, and the Indian  nodded his head indicating a “yes” and gave it to Eddie. He never spoke, he just used body language. That man was special; I will never forget his keen ear ready to serve others and his silent generosity. No one asked for his help, he just overheard that I needed tissue paper, and he gave it to me without asking anything back, in spite of his poverty. This detail will seem a drop in the bucket to many people, but if everybody acted like this man did, then we would fill up that bucket, and many problems will be solved. Probably my friend you are reading this story of me now, so I give you thanks again. Thank you very much.