“Wherever there is a human in need, there is an opportunity for kindness and to make a difference.”
— Kevin Heath.
I am sure this incident, which occured a few days ago, is not an unusual one, especially if you live in India. You might have been followed by an unknown person asking for money. We escape them, even get annoyed, but every person has a story to tell. A story that explains what led them to this situation. They are only looking for help.
One Sunday, during our work at Youngistaan Foundation, as I drank tea and chatted on the phone, a forty-plus man walked up to me. Dressed in shabby clothes, with tears in his eyes, he asked me for money. His name was Murli and his plight moved me beyond words.
Instead of shooing him away, I chose to have a conversation with him. Speaking in fluent English, he told me that he was from Chennai and had come to Hyderabad in search of work. Murli lost his money while sleeping on the roads and was left penniless. This story was the story of thousands of migrants just like him. All this man desperately wanted was to go back home.
I asked him whether he wanted to go home that very day. He looked at me intently and said, “Yes sir”.
