Hitch hiking

I’ve rarely ever hitched a ride before. I remember once when I was younger, I was carrying my cricket kit to practice, early one morning. As I stood alone on the bus stop, a young man came up to me and offered me a ride. I was hesitant, as I had been severely warned at home, never to go anywhere with strangers. Thinking myself old enough to defend myself, if the need arose and calculating my chances, I accepted his offer. I was armed with my bat and was not shy to use it. While on the bike I prayed silently hoping that everything would turn out well. What worried me was not that I had accepted a ride from a total stranger, but what I would say when I got back home and what reaction I would receive. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, even my disclosure at home was met with a not too severe reprimand. And so, I learned to trust in people’s inherent goodness and generosity. I was and still am a bit, uncertain about whether or not people can be trusted. But I like to believe they can.

Recently, I was returning home after dropping my friend to the railway station. The vehicle in which we had gone in left us at the station. I waited with my friend for a little while, but since his train was delayed by over 3 hours, I had to come back, in order to be in time for mass. After bidding him farewell, I left the station and got into the first bus coming homeward. After getting off the bus, I began to look for an autorickshaw to reach home. Since it was dawn, there were very few in sight. I began to walk instead of whiling away my time waiting. As I walked I observed a number of bikers passing me by. I considered asking for a lift but my hand seemed to have other ideas. After much mental wrestling, I stuck my hand out. Hardly had I stuck it out that a young man stopped and asked me where I was going. I was thrilled and told him where I was headed. He offered to drop me to a certain junction that is considerably closer to home. I climbed on and off we sped. As he approached the junction, he told me which side he was going and I told him that I too wanted to go that way. So he dropped me where I asked him to.

I was still quite far from home, so I began walking, not expecting any further help. Spurred on by my earlier success, I tried to hitch another ride and was blessed with one soon enough. Another young man who happened to be going the same way offered to drop me to my street. As I walked home after thanking him and exchanging a handshake, I was struck by the generosity of these two men. In fact, my faith in the inherent goodness and generosity of people was affirmed and the joy I experienced was immense. I asked myself whether I would do the same for a stranger. Many a time, I pass by strangers who are in need of something or another and I don’t bother to help them.

All of us are so caught up in our own worlds, bound by a number of commitments, chasing to keep various deadlines, looking to achieve certain goals that we forget to be human to one another. We look to each other merely as objects for achieving our own interests. We fail to show kindness and respect for one another. Within each of us is the capacity to do good. Exercising that capacity frequently will help brighten up our lives and our world. Learning to trust in the inherent goodness and generosity of the other requires that we set aside our prejudices and biases and approach reality with an open mind. “What goes around comes around”, therefore, do good, trust others and good will be done to you and trust will be placed in you.