[faustus77]

This is an incident at Amritsar when i was driving alone from leh to bombay last month an embarrassing stupid thing i did.
I had checked into a hotel in one of the bylanes and I forgot to take their card and address details.After picking my luggage from the car I hired a cyclerickshaw and couldn't find my way back.At one place i went inside a hotel to ask and when i came out I couldnt see the rickshaw guy.You can imagine my momentary panic.everything was in the bags including some money.The guy was waiting for me a few feet away at the corner.
he wont be reading this but thank you Ranbir singh for not running away.
(He does not have a mobile and works 16+ hours a day).Wherever i wanted to go I fixed up with him to pick me up and he was there on the dot.
On the last day from the gurdwara to the tarn taran highway he helped me by leading ,in his rickshaw,through the maze of roads and lanes.
thank you once again ranbir for making my stay easier

once again at amritsar last month
a few anecdotes,all my own work
a different view of punjab police.
when i was driving to the golden temple the policeman stopped me at the first barrier as cars are not allowed beyond that point.
on learning that i was alone and a senior citizen to boot and that my wife had asked me to visit the golden temple he waved me on and directed me to the vip parking.He also told me to tell at the other 3 police barriers that the first policeman had permitted me go to the vip parking.In the parking lot,which was free, i was given a slip for the car.Very secure with 24 hours gurdwara attendants at the gate.Couldn't have asked for anything better.
Maybe i met the few good policemen left in india.
rgds

[faustus77]

some more anecdotes(all my own work)
7 kms north of hiniskut and about 1 km south of Namik la peak is a small basti of 8/10 huts.
hotel rakesh
Nothing available to eat and an eating place more than an hours drive away.
rakesh the owner was cooking rice for his lunch and dinner,just rice with 1 egg for flavour(no vegetables available at that height)
offered to share his lunch and would not take money.Only after i refused to eat until i was charged for it did he relent and accepted.
he has 2 school going kids and runs the place until the first snowfall when he closes and goes back to hs native village.Takes him 3 days in travelling by trucks as he couldnt afford bus fare.
Stocks water,biscuits and packets of chips,farsan etc.all sold at MRP
request to members :when travelling by this route pl buy whatever you want at MRP.
it will be of immense help
thank you rakesh for your kindness
rgds

[sajands]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

When I went to the nearby ATM yesterday, I noticed that someone had forgotten his/her ATM card and it was lying on top of the ATM.

I collected the ATM card and submitted it to the bank staff sitting outside the ATM.

While the ATM card can't be misused by anyone else, but whoever left his/her card there would have to face inconvenience for getting the card blocked and getting another card issued from the bank.

I hope the owner remembers where he/she misplaced the card and went back to the ATM to collect it.

I wonder what else could I have done in such a situation.

Rohan

Good Thinking Rohan,

Few months back, on residency road, i found a ATM card lying at the parking lot near SBI Bank. I picked the card up and waited for sometime in case someone came back looking for the card, since nobody showed up, i called the HDFC call center number provided back of the card and got the card blocked. The bank guys were surprised that i called to report a lost card and wanted to get it blocked and thanked me and took my number, sure enough got a call next day from an old lady, (i guess the bank would have provided her my number) thanking me for not misusing her pension amount. Felt really good that I did the right thing.

-Sajan

[honeybee]

Today evening (well, it was around 9pm) while returning from work, as I took the exit from Mumbra bypass towards the Kausa village, I saw a motorcycle parked in the rightmost lane, and as I drove near I saw a man sitting on the divider, helmet by his side. It looked like an accident. Just before the place there was a good few inches deep pit. I drove slowly through the pit and halted against the man and enquired about him. Sure enough he hadn't seen that pit and had had a nasty fall, and was sitting there, trying to collect himself together.

I asked him about the injuries and he said both his hands and legs hurt, and he looked very much distressed. I asked him to leave his bike and get into my car, but he refused, saying he would be on his way in a few minutes. I asked where he stayed, and found he stayed in Dombivli West. So I again asked him to join me and visit a doctor, but he refused. Finally after repeated assurances from him that he would be alright I drove on. However something kept nagging at my mind.

At the end of the exit, a few metres from the spot, I decided to turn around. I exited and then took a U-turn. As I drove back to the spot I saw the man getting onto his bike and riding away slowly. I again took a U-turn and followed him. He joined the Mumbra Shil road, and a few hundred metres later pulled up onto the side of the road. He already looked shaken and I could see him trying to relieve his hands of the pain by trying to gently stretch them and taking them off the handlebars one after the other.

As he parked, I too pulled up a little bit ahead, and reached him. He was surprised to see me. I asked him if he was feeling alright and he again assured me he would feel better. I again asked him to leave his bike parked on the side and ride with me, but again he refused, urging me to go on and not worry about him. Finally I asked him if he needed water and he replied in the affirmative. I offered him the bottle from my car and he took a few sips. Thereafter he decided to resume his ride, and I offered to tail him all the way. He tried to refuse but I persisted. Finally we started, he riding in the front and me following him.

We continued on till the Katai toll naka, and along the way I could see he still was in pain. At the toll naka a car had broken down and just after the naka a truck had broken down, throwing the entire traffic into a mess. It stopped me while the rider ahead made his way through the smaller gaps. By the time I cleared the toll naka he was long gone. I drove on, checking each motorcycle I passed. Finally I caught up with him near the Premier colony and again trailed him from there till the junction at Akshay hospital. It's where he would be turning left and I would go straight. He parked at the side, again flexing his limbs and also called up his home, leaving a message for his wife to meet him at the doctor's.

I had parked my car ahead and walked back to him to check on him. He looked fairly stable now and started thanking me profusely. Obviously me driving behind him had given him the courage to ride all the way home. After making sure he would be alright now, I departed.

His injuries weren't very serious, but the incident had shaken him up. It felt nice I could give him some moral support at least.

[Nitrous Power]

This incident took place on last Monday. I live in Northern Virginia. We were to get hit by Hurricane Sandy on late Monday evening (not as bad as NY/NJ though).
Around 11 am Monday morning, I realized that I needed to get some medicines from near by Pharmacy Store. Weather was ok till the time I reached to the pharmacy. But, as soon as I came out, it started pouring like anything with heavy wind. And I saw one old aged Latin American lady standing there in hotel uniform as I was about to sprint to my car parked in open parking lot.
A quick glance and I thought she must be waiting for her ride but She looked confused and I thought of checking with her if she needed any help. When I asked, she was working as a housekeeper in close by hotel and wanted to get there. I offered to drop her off at her work place even though it was in opposite direction from my place. She reluctantly agreed as she did not had any other way to get there in that stormy/rainy weather. On top of it, like most Latin American migrants, she was not able to speak English. I was about to drop her off and all of a sudden, she offered me $20. I told her it is not required at all and I just helped her out looking at the weather/situation. She was so happy and thanked me at least 10 times.

By the way, the distance from pharmacy store to her work place was barely couple of miles and she was trying to give me $20.00.

[saket77]

This incident happened about 6 years ago. Me & my friend had nothing to do this late evening around 8 and we decided to go for a walk in our colony. As we were busy chatting, we approached a dark corner. The place was dark because the street lamp of that particular spot was not working.

A girl (about 15-16) was passing on her cycle. She was like a maid or something as we could make out. Suddenly a guy of similar age, heavily drunk stopped her & started abusing her. We thought that they might be knowing each other so we decided to walk on, albeit at a slower pace. The girl started crying. We immediately walked closer to them. Me & my friend asked the girl if she knew the guy... she was crying with horror & clearly said no...2-3 times in horror. First we held up the guy tightly and asked the girl to leave immediately. Then we started taking the guy to the security control room where the security personnel could handle him(A place in the colony where the private security office with lock-up is).

But this guy pulled out a long knife! At this point I was little afraid because the guy was drunk & he could have stabbed us due to intoxication. But somehow, me & my friend were able to handle this guy & took away his knife after some physical scuffle. Thankfully.

After losing his knife, the guy ran away. We decided not to report to the security because both the girl & the guy were no more present and we knew none. We threw the knife in a gutter & came back home immediately after that.

Even after so many years when I remember this incident, I feel 'good'.

Later I swanned all this in glory to my female friend...who later successfully became my girlfriend too!

[gopikb]

Last weekend we drove to Kukke temple and was on our way back to Bangalore on Sunday morning. About 10kms from Kukke and before reaching Gundya, we saw a person just bringing in fresh Jack fruits and papaya to sell on the roadside. We crossed him because of speed. Then I took a U-turn and came back to him to but some fruits back home. His was a family of 4, with a daughter who could be about 5~6 years and son 2~3 years. I saw his wife and kids helping their Dad in harvesting fruits and bring to the roadside. The cost he quoted for the jackfruit was Rs.70 for a big sized fruit and Rs.50 for a medium sized one. We knew that it was very reasonable and did not bargain. When my wife was checking out the papaya, she accidentally dropped two ripe fruits. We told him we will buy it and he cut the fresh fruits for us and served in big leaf from a nearby tree. The papaya was the sweetest we had tasted anywhere. My kids who used to run away at the sight of papaya in Bangalore also liked the fruit very much and my son commented the papaya was very sweet.

The farmer understood his comment in English and there was a genuine happiness in his face that a small kid liked the fruits from his garden. He said we just pay Rs.120 for the jackfruit and did not want to take money for the papaya giving the reason that the kids smile is worth a million bucks and that is enough. We live in cities, pay taxes in lakhs and are never ever satisfied with what we have and crave for more. But there are people who are poor, but a simple smile from a kid gives them a heart’s content. Money does not mean everything for them. They give more respect to human values than money.



P.S. I asked price of a full jack fruit in Bangalore and was quoted Rs.400

[thehighwayman]

Many years back we were traveling back to our hometown from after a long vacation in our good old Premier Padmini. It was pretty late in the night and was raining quite heavily .All of us were exhausted and just wanted to get home.As we neared Nagpur, the front right tyre developed a puncture!

We got down and looked around for help. Being a deserted section of the highway, there were no shops or villages in sight (those were good old days of 1980s where mobile phones were an unknown phenomenon in India). We had the spare tyre in the trunk but somehow had forgotten to carry a flashlight thereby making the task of changing the flat tire in pitch darkness next to impossible.

Wondering what to do, we spotted a man riding on Luna TFR(the one with single seat) in the distance. We flagged him down and asked about the nearest mechanic or electrical shop to get the flashlight .He replied that the nearest shops were almost 20-30 kms away and at this hour they would be closed anyways..
Seeing the worried faces, he offered to focus his Luna's headlight while we proceeded with the the change. Since it was a Luna with its dingy headlight ,he really had to rev the engine hard to have the light of some useful brightness. The entire process took about 45 mins, and during this the entire time, he was there on his vehicle getting drenched in the pouring rain.

When everything was done, we thanked him profusely and offered him money for the fuel he had spent . He smiled and politely declined stating he could never accept money for helping someone in despair.
I don't know who that person was but keep thinking that if we had more people like him, wouldn't the world be a better place to live in?

[mksureshhere]

The best portion of a good man's life:
His little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love.
- William Wordsworth

No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted
- Aesof

These are the quotes that the below video starts with. This video touched me and I introspected myself. There were a few questions that popped in my mind. I thought I should share it with our fellow mates. My answers are there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeph_eX_pVw

Please share your incidents of kindness or the ways you make our roads, a better place.

1) Have I ever shown any kindness on road?
No and Yes.
Yes, because whenever I stop in a signal and see some somebody begging, I give them some money. I have done this all the time. I would consider myself being kind, but, within my comfort zone. All that I had to do is bring the glass down, give some money and bring it up.
No, because, if I ever encounter a situation where I have to get out of my car to give a hand, I am not sure if I would be ready to do it.

2) Is it only me who is not ready to come out of comfort zone ?
No. It's 99% of us are not really ready to come out of our car to render any help. I have seen it. It hurts for the reader who falls in to the other 1%. Please ignore this. This is not for you 1% folks.

3) Why am I like this?
a) Rushing to office
b) Racing against time all the time
c) Meetings, conferences, appointments, etc.,.etc.,

I can give millions of reasons for evading the situation. But, it takes just one reason to attend to the needy - "Being human". Who knows, we will be in the very same situation the very next day.

4) What have I done so far within my comfort zone to make our roads a better place to be?
a) First thing - I started communicating with driver on the road. Gave way for some in the cross roads and junctions when I had better chances of crossing. 5 out of 10 times, the other driver shows a thumbs up to me. And, I smile. Deep inside, I feel so good. It's in fact a good start of a day.
b) Stopped getting my egos clashed with motorcycles, taxis and others. Started giving way for people who don't realize that it will be a maximum of 5 minutes difference in ETA between me and them in the peak hour traffic.
a) Avoided road rages - always. None on the road can bruise my ego and get my gas pedal floored. Yes, it's my car and I dictate terms. The guy who shows up in my RVM does not decide my speed. Never.

Mods -I searched in Indian Car Scene for a suitable thread, could not find one. Please merge the post in a suitable thread, if exists already. Thanks.

[Ramon]

First incident took place some 10 years back. My friend and I were going to school after our entrance coaching classes. We saw an elderly man struggling to push a cycle loaded with three huge and heavy sacks on the sloping road from Ayurveda College Junction toward GPO Junction. We pushed the cycle along with him till the GPO Junction where the road levels out. The smile of gratitude he gave us on that day is something that I will never forget.

Second one - I had finished college and joined my job at a PSB near Kozhencherry. One day in the evening on the way back from the Bank I went to the canteen of Muthoot Hospital to have food. Near the back gate of the hospital I saw a woman being beaten up really badly by her husband. In fact she was bleeding from her nose and seems her teeth were also knocked out. However much the people gathered tried to dissuade him he went on bashing her up. On seeing the situation, I dialled the local police station (working in a Bank I had saved the number in my mobile for emergencies) and informed them of the incident. To their credit a police jeep turned up in two minutes flat and the fellow was hauled off and the lady taken to the hospital for first aid. Felt really good for calling the police.

Third one -A year ago and I had got transferred to Trivandrum. One day in the morning on my way to the Bank I saw a car had broken down (an Alto) on the road in front of Corporation Office / SBI Nanthencode Branch There was a couple with a toddler in the car. I pushed the car with the man steering it toward the Museum- Nanthencode road which is a downward slope and they were able to start the car.

And now I work in the pension processing cell of the bank where I deal with pensioners - people in the twilight of their life, soldiers who had given the best days of their life for me to be safe in my home, widows / parents of soldiers who gave their life, I love my job and am glad of being able to help them.

[amit_purohit20]

I was touched and I do sometimes such things but not always. Yes the video was touching and inspires us to step forward and help people. Thanks for sharing.

[Dry Ice]

Nice video, thanks for sharing. But here is one such good samaritian facing the consequences of her kindness - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-2-deaths.html

Shared on accident thread and there was quite a discussion on this.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post3460988

[mksureshhere]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Nice video, thanks for sharing. But here is one such good samaritian facing the consequences of her kindness - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-2-deaths.html

Shared on accident thread and there was quite a discussion on this.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post3460988

@ Dry Ice - Ya, that's not good at all. I feel sorry for the lady. One thing here - These incidents are exceptions. Let's not take an exception as an example. I know theses exceptions will make us more cautious that we should not become one (exception). But, at least within our comfort zone, let's make things better. I'm sure it does not hurt.

[fais123]

"Stopped getting my egos clashed with motorcycles, taxis and others."

"The guy who shows up in my RVM does not decide my speed."

Thinking in this way and trying to practice for some time now. It's never easy but constantly improving.
For the 5 minutes you may save on road, what you get instead is peace of mind and a good day ahead.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by mksureshhere

@ Dry Ice - Ya, that's not good at all. I feel sorry for the lady. One thing here - These incidents are exceptions. Let's not take an exception as an example. I know theses exceptions will make us more cautious that we should not become one (exception). But, at least within our comfort zone, let's make things better. I'm sure it does not hurt.

I think we should take that as an example.

Be fully aware of your surroundings before trying to act in an unusual way.

Unusual in an Indian sense. Like if you are planning to stop as soon as you see the amber light, be sure to have a look in your RVMs to confirm there is not a missile on 2 or 3 wheels tailgating you!