This incident dates back to Jan 2011 -- about 5 months back.
My three year old son (Shubh) had become sick in the evening. As we went to bed, we checked his temperature. The mercury meter said 100; we thought we can hold on before giving him some Calpol. Three hours later, my wife was shaking me. Startled, I woke up and saw her pointing to the thermometer reading. It said 104. I immediately rang up the Cradle Clinic, the place in Bangalore which we used to frequent for all issues related to kids health. The attending doctor recommended a particular medicine and also advised us to start doing cold water sponging. He strongly believed that doing these two things will bring down the temperature and then in the morning, we can come for a check-up.
As I started my "Activa" (a popular two wheeler in India) in pursuit of a 24 hour Pharmacy shop, it was about 2 in the morning. I had been in Bangalore for barely 4 months and did not have a good handle of the area surrounding my place. But I still believed that I will be able to get my way around. After roaming around unsuccessfully for half an hour, I realized how wrong I was. Twiddling my thumbs, I was standing near a medical college trying to figure out what to do next. Just then I saw a few auto-rickshaws near the gate of the medical college. I went upto one of them and enquired about the pharmacy shop. He said that it is nearby and gave me directions. But with me being unfamiliar to B'lore, I was completely confused. The rickshaw driver realized this. And offered to be my pillion rider and show me the way. For a minute, I hesitated. For one, it was barely 4 months since I had relocated to India after spending 11 yrs in US; a place where something like this was completely unheard of. Secondly, I had come across a few cases of B'lore taxi drivers robbing and even murdering folks who were travelling late in the night. I was a little anxious. But soon I remembered my son's face and accepted his offer.
With the auto driver as my pillion, we reached the medical shop in 5 mins. I asked for the relevant medicine and as I was paying the bill, the auto driver came upto me and suggested a different medicine (something he used all the time for his children). I was really touched by the guy's selfless approach. He seemed so genuine. I wanted to keep his heart. And so,though I obviously had more faith in the doctor than him, I still went ahead and bought this other medicine as well. Rejecting his idea would have seemed mean and rude; and I did not want to do that.
After dropping him back to the medical college (where his auto rickshaw was); I shook his hand, offered a few words of genuine gratitude and drove away.
As I neared home, I wondered what would I have done without him. What would the world do without such folks ? Thank God for them; for it is people like these who make me believe that humanity is alive and kicking !
The incident also highlighted how different the US and Indian societies are. US society prides itself in being fiercely independent. Had I been in US; I would have fired up my laptop, searched for 24hr Walgreens, called and placed an order for the medicine and then driven there to fetch the medicines. In India, this approach just does not work. It is a more "people-based" society (for lack of a better word). Whether u like it or not; everybody is dependent on everybody. And though that dependence leads to all kinds of issues, it also provides (at times) joy and genuine warmth !
My three year old son (Shubh) had become sick in the evening. As we went to bed, we checked his temperature. The mercury meter said 100; we thought we can hold on before giving him some Calpol. Three hours later, my wife was shaking me. Startled, I woke up and saw her pointing to the thermometer reading. It said 104. I immediately rang up the Cradle Clinic, the place in Bangalore which we used to frequent for all issues related to kids health. The attending doctor recommended a particular medicine and also advised us to start doing cold water sponging. He strongly believed that doing these two things will bring down the temperature and then in the morning, we can come for a check-up.
As I started my "Activa" (a popular two wheeler in India) in pursuit of a 24 hour Pharmacy shop, it was about 2 in the morning. I had been in Bangalore for barely 4 months and did not have a good handle of the area surrounding my place. But I still believed that I will be able to get my way around. After roaming around unsuccessfully for half an hour, I realized how wrong I was. Twiddling my thumbs, I was standing near a medical college trying to figure out what to do next. Just then I saw a few auto-rickshaws near the gate of the medical college. I went upto one of them and enquired about the pharmacy shop. He said that it is nearby and gave me directions. But with me being unfamiliar to B'lore, I was completely confused. The rickshaw driver realized this. And offered to be my pillion rider and show me the way. For a minute, I hesitated. For one, it was barely 4 months since I had relocated to India after spending 11 yrs in US; a place where something like this was completely unheard of. Secondly, I had come across a few cases of B'lore taxi drivers robbing and even murdering folks who were travelling late in the night. I was a little anxious. But soon I remembered my son's face and accepted his offer.
With the auto driver as my pillion, we reached the medical shop in 5 mins. I asked for the relevant medicine and as I was paying the bill, the auto driver came upto me and suggested a different medicine (something he used all the time for his children). I was really touched by the guy's selfless approach. He seemed so genuine. I wanted to keep his heart. And so,though I obviously had more faith in the doctor than him, I still went ahead and bought this other medicine as well. Rejecting his idea would have seemed mean and rude; and I did not want to do that.
After dropping him back to the medical college (where his auto rickshaw was); I shook his hand, offered a few words of genuine gratitude and drove away.
As I neared home, I wondered what would I have done without him. What would the world do without such folks ? Thank God for them; for it is people like these who make me believe that humanity is alive and kicking !
The incident also highlighted how different the US and Indian societies are. US society prides itself in being fiercely independent. Had I been in US; I would have fired up my laptop, searched for 24hr Walgreens, called and placed an order for the medicine and then driven there to fetch the medicines. In India, this approach just does not work. It is a more "people-based" society (for lack of a better word). Whether u like it or not; everybody is dependent on everybody. And though that dependence leads to all kinds of issues, it also provides (at times) joy and genuine warmth !
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