A routine visit turns pleasant

Sometimes a routine visit can turn pleasant. Standing in a queue to pay the telephone bill, I noticed an elderly man a new places ahead of me. I wonder why is he taking a long time (I was in a rush to purchase tickets for the new Harry Potter film and was afraid they might sell out). Turns out he is chatting with the man at the counter.. Well, basically the Sardarji had made a few mistakes in his cheque -- it turned out it wasn't his fault since it was his neighbour's bill and he was only helping out! The man at the counter, however, seemed to be understanding and showed patience, unlike most government officials we have encountered. I couldn't help smiling at the conversation. The telephone official told the Sardarji -- your coming here has made everyone smile today, otherwise everyone is grumpy and in a hurry to pay the bill. The Sardarji replied that he was 70 and he had learnt in his life never to be unhappy and that god would take care of everything. When the official asked which "baba" he prayed to, he said there is only one god -- pray to whoever who like, at which point others in the queue also made sounds of agreement. The Sardarji then went away, accompanied by a friend, who was teasing him about his careless mistakes.

After paying the bill, I thought for some time whether the Sardarji was right - whether we crib in life for no particular reason. Sometimes we do, and here I remember the story of a girl who was crying over not getting new shoes until she met someone who had no feet. But sometimes, life indeed is tough and we face difficult situations which seem endless, things thrust upon us and we have no choice but to endure them. At such times, there is nothing really to do than have faith in god and pray for better times ahead.