A fall story

I was born and raised in Mumbai. A city that is always busy. A city that never sleeps. A city with crows of people chasing their dreams. A city that always helps. A city that is made special because of its people. I experienced a lot of situations where only because of the helping people I was able to survive. This is one of such stories. It is an embarrassing one yet it shows the the kindness of people of Mumbai.

This incident happened when I was working at a corporate office. With sophisticated corporate offices their comes a strict dress code. Also in corporate offices there are certain styles that we need to follow. One of such styles is wearing trendy and attractive shoes. I was someone who would always be comfortable in ballet flats or a sports shoes. When I started working I had to switch to heeled shoes.

One such day I was wearing kitten heel shoes. They were comfortable and stylish. Throughout the day I walked wearing them in the office. The real test was on the road. That is when they failed the test.

I got off from my office bus. I was walking comfortably and steady on the patchy street. The street was being repaired. There was water everywhere. There was cement everywhere. I was navigating my way through the mess of construction. Placing my feet gingerly so that I would not trip down. Little did I know that this is not going to be helpful.

At one particular spot where there was a lot of water and that spot was slippery. Unknowingly I had placed my foot there. My foot came in contact with the slippery surface and what happened was surely embarrassing. I slipped, tripped, and fell. I fell down not gracefully. I fell first on my knees, then my elbows, later on my face. My clothes were ruined because of the mud. My bag also got soiled. Pain of injury was the part I was least worried about. The pain of embarrassment was worse. The pain of losing the reputation was worse as well. I wish at that moment that nobody who knows me would have seen me in that state. I wanted to hide my face somewhere.

What happened after that changed my entire worldview. I was on a busy street. I was still noticed by many people. Two women came running towards me. They thought that I fell down because of dizziness. They helped me get up. They held my hand and took me out of the mess. There was a restaurant nearby. The owner saw me falling down and he came running outside. He asked the women to take me to his restaurant. He too thought that I fell down because I got dizzy. He made me fresh juice. He insisted that I should drink it to feel better. I was telling everyone around me that I fell down because of the slippery road and not because of dizziness. However they did not listen to me. They made sure that I was feeling better. The women stayed by my side insisting that I should drink the juice. The restaurant owner asked me if he should call a doctor. I said that I am fine. After drinking to juice the women took me to the restroom. With their own handkerchief they cleaned my wounds.

By the time we got out of the restroom a doctor was already there. He asked me about what happened and whether I had hit my head. He asked me several questions to rule out the possibility of a concussion. He had come prepared with first aid kit. He cleaned the wounds and bandaged them. I expressed my gratitude and I asked him how much should I pay him. He did not accept anything from me and he said that the restaurant owner is his friend. He also said that he decided to come and help because the restaurant owner was so worried about me. I could not express my gratitude enough to these women, the doctor, and the restaurant owner. They all wanted to ensure that I get well.

The restaurant owner insisted that he would call an auto rickshaw. I told him that I was fine and able to walk. Only thing that was broken was my pride. He still called an auto rickshaw. Told the driver not to accept any fare from me.

I was surprised to see their concern and hospitality. They were helping a stranger without anything in return. The restaurant owner did not let me pay for the juice, the doctor or even for the auto rickshaw. He said that he is doing only to help me. He is a business owner but he knows humanity. The women who helped me also did not expect anything in return. All of these angels help me selflessly.

Next day I went to the restaurant again. I knew that he would not accept anything from me hence I had placed an order that I was going to take home. He knew what I was doing but was still happy to accept my order. Unfortunately I was not able to locate those two women, the rickshaw driver, and the doctor. I could not express my gratitude enough towards them.

An incident like this definitely restored the faith in humanity. While the social media shows that humanity is dead, you may still find humanity at the very unexpected places. You will find humanity at a corner, at a crowded street, at a small restaurant, anywhere. All I had to do to find humanity was to fall down. Then humanity came running to me.

That's the beauty of our people of Mumbai. The city of film industry is also the city of Hearts of gold. One can only experience it.