Growing up, there have been multiple occasions on which I was very close to losing hope and faith in humanity. With the newspapers flooded with hate crimes and news channels flashing heinous monstrosities all the time, it is very hard to still sleep peacefully at night. Then one day, a small act of generosity, just like the ray of sunlight piercing through the clouds, falls upon you and makes you realise that it’s not all bad. I witnessed one such act in the recent past which changed the way I thought.
Last weekend, my friend and I went on a trip to Luxembourg with other WUR students. We were going to board the bus back to Wageningen in the evening. Since we only had a few hours there, we wrapped up our sightseeing pretty fast and grabbed a quick bite to eat. In spite of the food being hot, we gobbled it down mainly because the time of departure was nearing and, of course, hunger! After a four-hour bus journey back to Wageningen, while deboarding, my friend realised he had left his camera bag at the restaurant where we bought our dinner. Panic, anxiety and guilt took over, and clearly, hope was lost!
A few days later, the camera was couriered to him by the owner of the restaurant himself. Ordinarily, I would have never expected to see or even hear about that camera again, but now I feel that I live in a much kinder part of the world, where mistakes are pardoned, and second chances are still given. For people who are not surprised by such behaviour, this may not seem like a life changer, but for people like me, this simple act of kindness gave me a reason to hold on to hope and continue to work to make this world a ‘humane’ place.
Obviously, I dove deep into thoughts again. *Imagine a thought bubble here* This world now lives on a beam balance, where on one hand offenders are weighing it down, and on the other, millions of heroes from different corners of the world, like the owner of the restaurant, are trying to equalise this weight with such acts of compassion and kindness. *Now you can burst the thought bubble*
When I was in India, such things didn’t exist even in my imagination, but now, I see them happening. It is like magic, it really is! Similarly, when I came to Wageningen, it amazed me how I could leave my carry-ons (including valuables) on my worktable if I had to go get food or use the toilet and pick up where I left off as soon as I returned. Sadly, that luxury is slowly fading away as there have been multiple laptop thefts in various buildings of WUR.
I did mention before that I now live in a better part of the world, but now, I fear it won’t last for long. Slowly, I see the wave spreading. So here is my request that we all understand that it is our duty to keep people’s belief instilled in humanity through our actions. Let’s all be heroes, just like the restaurant owner.
PS: I would like to give due appreciation to our hero Mac who owns the restaurant Ancien Cinema Café Club in Vianden, Luxembourg for setting an example for many others to follow.