I live in one of the busy streets of Chennai and my house is located directly opposite a temple. On most days, the space just in front of my building is packed with bikes of people who visit the temple. There is hardly any space to move about and it is an ordeal from me to get my own bike out of my house unscathed and drive away.
About a month ago, the space in front of my building was occupied by a hawker! A spinach selling woman had her business laid out on the road. Her shop was a real nuisance and instead of bikes, there was now her shop for me to contend with. If by some outward chance i park my bike temporarily on the road for a short while, the spinach seller expertly wove her shop around my bike in such a way that i wouldn't be able to move my bike an inch without running over her products.
This irritated me too much and one day I confronted her and asked her move the shop somewhere else. She didn't budge and instead pleaded in a fake voice "Just for some time.. I will move away in the evening". My irritation increased every time I encountered some discomfort because of her shop. I tried all means to send her packing; i pleaded her, I scolded her, I shouted at her... but nothing worked. One day, as a last ditch effort I threatened to call the police and it stopped her temporarily as she was not to be seen the next day. But it was more like an off day for her as she came back again and continued with her shop. I was angry and irritated and didn't know what to do.
A couple of days ago, as I was going out, a scene played out in front of me and it grabbed my attention. A stray dog that lives around our area was idling around the shop. The lady who owns the shop tried to shoo the dog away as it was inconveniencing her sales. She tried everything she could. She spoke to the dog softly, she scolded it, shouted at it and when all went in vain she picked up a stick and chased the dog off. Now, I am a dog lover and seeing the woman chase the dog away with a stick incensed me. I wanted to blast her off but chose to move away from the place.
But as I drove away I realized the significance of what I had just seen. I had treated the lady exactly the same way she had treated the dog. I tried to chase her off just because she was causing some inconvenience to me and she chased the dog away as it caused nuisance to her!! Whether what I did was right or wrong I do not know. Whether the lady is right or wrong I do not know. But what I do know for sure is that if we keep our senses open, life throws so many lessons at us.
It wasn't until the scene played out that I realized that sometimes we do not treat people with enough respect. Sometimes we respect animals more than we respect humans. Sometimes we behave so rude that until someone else treats us that way, we do not realize how we have been!
The spinach seller still has her shop outside my place, I still find her to be a nuisance, I still get angry... but I express my anger a lot better now! How about YOU?
