During my recent trip to Hampi & Badami, there were a few incidents which made me believe that people in small towns / villages still have not lost their humanity or their trust in God to help them through with their life.
The first incident (made a post on facebook about this) happened in a restaurant. There were 8 people in our group and we went to a dinner in a mid-size hotel in Badami. We sat in groups of 4 across two tables. We gave our orders and had our dinner in a pretty good mood as the trip that day to Aihole and Pattakdakkal went very well. Once we finished our dinner, the waiter presented a bill of Rs 402. One of the persons in the table next to ours gave a 500 rupee note. The waiter came back and asked for Rs 2 change. He gave it to him. The waiter then came and gave back a 100 rupee note. I noticed this and was very surprised. The normal tendency with the waiters I have seen is to ensure that they bring back change, so that the patrons can tip them rather than search for change. The person who paid looked at the 100 rupee note and asked for change so that he can give a tip. By the way, the service was very good and we were pretty happy about it. The waiter said it is fine. Somehow, he found a 10 rupee note with a friend and gave it the waiter. The waiter was extremely pleased and thanked him profusely.
One of the persons in our table watched all this, and before we left tipped the waiter another 10 rupees. At first the waiter refused stating that he was tipped already but finally was forced to accept this. He was extremely happy, making me wonder that a person like this could find CONTENMENT.
The next two happened in Aihole. A friend and I after completing our trip around the monuments were extremely thirsty. There was this village lady selling curd in small pots charing Rs15 per pot. While I was not too keen to have it, my friend bought one after bargaining for 10 rupees. She gave it to him, after collecting 10 rupees, but with a lot of disappointment written on her regarding the price. She added sugar into the pot and gave it to him. He was not too keen to have the curd with sugar and asked me to have it. I did not want it to go waste and obliged. He got one more pot for himself. After i finished mine, I gave her 20 rupees, not wanting her to lose 10 rupees due to bargaining. When she received this, she broke into a big smile and which I could not forget. Here was a lady, who from disappointment in one moment went to a completely happy state just with 10 rupees.
While we were waiting for the driver, a small girl came and asked me for a pen. Unfortunately, I did not have one. I asked if she was going to school and replied that she was in 5th class and learning in kannada medium school. She kept pestering me for almost 5 minutes to giver her a pen and would not take a no for an answer. What was surprising during the entire duration was that she never asked for money. Finally the driver came and as we were ready to leave, she asked me if you don't have a pen at least give me a chocolate. Thankfully, I had a coffe bite given inlieu of change in a shop the previous day and I gave it to her. She had a big smile when she took it from me.
These three incidents were clear indications that people from small town / villages still have their values and humanity. They trust God to take them through the day...
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