My Rakhi Brother

Debi Mukherjee (India, 22/09/08)

On the day of Raksha Bandhan my sister, Chhabi, residing at Amarnath colony of Kolar Road in Bhopal urged me to pay a visit to her house to celebrate the festival of Rakhi with her family.

Her dwelling place is 5 miles away from my flat located at South Avenue near Gulmohar colony.

My husband been away to Kolkata I was reluctant to avail of the public/private transportation including Auto/Scooter (Three wheeler) due to my Joint bone replacement in the left leg five years back (a bicycle rider hit me during my morning walk). Knowing my hesitation she offered the service of her son enjoying holiday on account of Raksha Bandhan, to give me a lift for the to and fro journey.

Realising fully well that an employee of a private concern having long working hours/tours hardly gets the benefit of leave to enjoy with his family, I did not like the idea of bothering him.

I hired an Auto rickshaw for commuting to her place.  Explaining my problem I made a request to the driver to run at a moderate speed so as to avoid any kind of jerking.

A part of the road from Gulmohar to Amarnath colony is extremely bumpy having a number of potholes in between. To my pleasant surprise, the gentleman at the wheel literally followed my instruction side tracking every pothole, halting in between so as to give way to other vehicles. In fact, in my life I am yet to come across such a sober and smooth private vehicle driver.

I thought that in case he is located near my residence I may utilize his services whenever need arises. It transpired that he is stationed at New market (far off from my place) and got my offer after dropping a passenger. He is from a Muslim community. His name is “Sajid”.

I may or may not see him again but that did not prevent me to accept him as my “Rakhi-Brother” on this auspicious day.

Let me conclude this write-up with the following thought provoking quote of Albert Einstein:

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose."

From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know:

That we are here for the sake of others…for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy.