Ⅰ.
Around 6:30 AM on August 8th, 2015, Swati, along with her mother, reached the campus of Anna University in Chennai, India, after traveling overnight for over 350 km by a bus from her village Musiri in the northeastern direction. She had never gone to any major town, let alone Chennai, which is the fourth largest metropolitan area in India. But now she got there and only a step away from fulfilling her dream of becoming an undergrad student at the university which she rightfully earned through sheer hard work scoring a remarkable1017 out of a maximum possible score of 1200. And her sickness during the exams didn’t matter.
However, there was a problem. She had come to the wrong university in the wrong place. The invitation letter mentioned ‘Annan Arangam’ meaning ‘Anna Pavilion’ in the regional language Tamil but had inadvertently omitted the address. Owing to her poor, less-informed background, she assumed it as the more widely known Anna University in Chennai whereas her actual venue was in a different university in a different place called Coimbatore. It would have been half the distance she traveled the previous night had she gone west from her village but it was now more than 500 km from Chennai. Her interview was scheduled for 8:30 AM.
That was when Swati and her mother were spotted by three morning-walkers from a group called ‘Twalkers’ as they saw them asking around for directions to Anna Arangam. They quickly grasped the situation and instinctively knew that there was only one way left for Swati to make it to the interview.
And they started to act fast. One of them got Swati and her mother some breakfast. Another made an online flight booking to Coimbatore for the next available plane and handed over the tickets. And the third person called up the university office in Coimbatore and managed to secure some time allowance for her interview.
By 10:05 AM, Swati and her mother were airborne, having never traveled on a plane before. They landed at 11:28 AM and came out of the airport only to be surprised again to see someone from the university awaiting them. Once they reached the campus, they were personally received and accompanied by the registrar of the university who ensured that the rest of the process was fair and smooth. Swati ended that day with an offer secured in the highly sought after biotechnology major to her sheer delight and profound gratitude. She pledged to herself that she would return to Chennai someday soon, when she can afford, to repay the kindness of the three angels.
Ⅱ.
On May 3rd, 1999, a full-scale war broke out between India and Pakistan in the Kargil district, after some infiltrations were detected from the Pakistan side along the ‘line of control’, the de-facto India-Pakistan border, and retaliated by the Indian side. Drass is a small, hilly town in the Kargil district located at an altitude of over 10,000 feet. It is the second coldest inhabited place in the world after Siberia, with the lowest recorded temperature of -60C.
Owing to its strategic position between Zoji La pass and Kargil, Drass became a target point in the Pakistani war plan. As soon as the war broke out, everyone in and around Drass fled the area to places of safety. But one person chose to stay back.
Meet Naseem Ahmad, a tea seller, who originally hailed from Dehradun city which is almost 900 km from Drass. He had ample reasons and numerous chances to return to Dehradun if he wished but his heart did not allow him to desert the Indian army engaged in active combat. He decided to stay back and serve tea to all the army convoys traversing the area. With no help from anyone as all the residents were long gone. He did that for almost three months until the war ended on July 26th, 1999, with the Indian side clearing the Drass sector of Pakistani forces. He also prepared food for them using the army rations offered to him by one of the officers since all the trade links for Drass with the outside world got cut for the duration of the war.
In the first example, Saravanan, Paramasivam, and Jaisankar, the three Twalkers’ men, didn’t have to bother about a stranger’s plight at all except perhaps giving her the right address. However, they were determined to take control of Swati’s destiny with scant regard to their time and money. This is one kind of people who hate to be bystanders but choose to show the better-equipped members of the society how to respond to the life events of less-privileged members when noticed.
In the second example, Naseem, a very ordinary tea seller, who hardly makes his ends meet on any given day, performed an extraordinary act of humanity and displayed an exemplary sense of duty towards his nation in his chosen way. This is the second kind of people who, regardless of their financial and other shortcomings, strive to make a difference to their surroundings through their deeds-small or big. Many a time in life, in times of need, such thoughtful and selfless acts motivate the recipients to stay positive and singularly focus on the larger tasks on hand. War in this case.
These are two cool examples of two kinds of people who can inspire us to build a better tomorrow where caring and sharing becomes a norm rather than an exception.
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