It happened almost 25 years ago in erstwhile Bombay! The memory however is still fresh in my mind. A group of visually impaired friends used to meet in a small room for an informal time of fellowship on Wednesday evenings. I was one of the volunteers, helping them with reading the newspapers or helping them with their studies.

There I met a young man named Prem. He was in his twenties. He was not a volunteer but a visitor in that campus. Whenever we met, we would exchange casual greetings of hello or hi and would move on. I did not know anything about him and we never talked. I could not get to like this guy at all. His very sight would put me off. Deep within I had some kind of hatred towards him. Whenever we met, I would put on a smile and say ‘hello’ to him, resenting him at the same time. This went on for several months. Face is not always the index of the mind!!

Time went by. One evening. I was at the Mother Teresa’s ‘Home for the Destitute & Dying’ at Byculla. The watchman opened the gate and I saw a yellow-black taxi pull into the courtyard. I was surprised to see Prem. He got down from the taxi. This time we did not exchange any greetings. He seemed to be in a hurry. I saw him open the back door of the taxi. There was a dirty bundle on the seat. With care he carried that bundle in both his hands and put it down gently. More >