Faith in humanity restored


A small, brown puppy, grubby. Not of a known breed, a street dog, as they are called. He runs across the Galle Road, making vehicles come to a halt. He could be easily knocked down, but the people are kind. At first, they are annoyed about the sudden halt in their journey. However, when they see the little culprit who is causing the traffic jam, they wait patiently while the puppy walks over to the other side. Then a motorcyclist gets off his bike, runs behind the puppy and gets it to the side of the road. The vehicles continue their journey, passengers stealing one last look of the puppy.

An old man,  his walking stick held tightly by his twitching hand. He stands at the yellow crossing, waiting to cross the road. Vehicles go by, none stopping to let him cross. Finally, a few others gather around to cross the road. Vehicles stop. They cross. The old man takes longer than the rest. Hands are already reaching towards the vehicle horns, hoping that would make the old man hurry. He’s trying his best, and can feel people staring at him, cursing him. Slowly the tooting starts and he quickens his steps and finally reaches the other side. He looks back and feels tears clouding his eyes, the impatience of some, so hard to understand.

Why did they have more patience for the puppy than they had for the old man? He is someone’s father, someone’s grandfather. We know that the old man wasn’t taking his own cool time. He was trying his best to cross the road as soon as possible. Yet, people often forget about kindness and patience when dealing with humans.

It is true that that puppy couldn’t have known that people have places to be. It is true that that puppy couldn’t tell us what he wanted, and couldn’t understand what we told him. The old man could, and he did. Yet, the curses and stares and annoyed looks of people did not give him the strength to walk faster. People knew this. Yet, they didn’t seem to care.

Such moments make us feel disgusted of humans. We can’t believe that we tend to treat animals better than we treat other humans. We hear of people who isolate themselves from people because they cannot bear to live with such inhumane beings. They are so disgusted by the hate, anger and injustice around them.

However, what keeps us sane in such a world? What gives us all a reason to wake up each day and face the world? Those sometimes too rare moments of pure kindness give us strength. They make us have some hope.
The late evening sky is dark orange. She carries bags heavy with groceries. Her breathing gets faster and faster until her world becomes a blur and she falls. She lies there on the pavement, unable to get up. Then she feels warm hands on her cold body, lifting her up slowly. They help her on to her feet and see if she has any bruises or wounds. They are strangers to her. And yet, they were there when she needed them.

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