A vegetable cart and my good heart
I was walking to a restaurant to have breakfast along a busy road in the early morning.
A person was pushing his cart in the middle of the road. Vehicles were rushing on both sides of him. A tarpaulin sheet, covering the cart, was stuck in one of the wheels of the cart, so the cart was barely moving. He was trying to untangle the sheet by pulling the sheet and pushing the cart simultaneously.
It was clear he needed a helping hand to resolve it. I Jumped into the traffic and reached near to him. He was a young man, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He had not washed his face - sleepy and tired.
I asked him if he needed help. He looked at me and smirked, which baffled me. I didn’t know whether I should stay or leave. A few moments later, He nodded and I interpreted it as his approval.
I started untangling the sheet and it went for a couple of minutes. In the end, I pulled the sheet as strongly as possible. One corner of the sheet tore and separated from the sheet.
I became embarrassed and looked into his face with some sense of guilt. I couldn't see any visible emotional change on his face. He took the sheet and threw it away.
I couldn't understand why he threw it. That too was in the middle of the road. He went on with the cart without saying a word to me.
After a couple of steps, he stopped and turned towards me. He tried to salute me and said, “Thanks”.
I resumed my journey. My hands were full of mud and I felt gross. I could clean my hands at the restaurant, which was half an hour away. I told myself I shouldn’t feel gross about the dirt on my hands because it was a sign of my good heart.
While returning from the restaurant, I was still thinking about the sheet. Why did he throw it into the middle of the road? The sheet was dirty, but It needed just a normal wash.
When I reached the scene, I couldn’t see the sheet in the middle of the road. Someone removed it from the road. I was glad to know that there are good-hearted people like me who selflessly work for the betterment of society.
An old man, sad and tired, was sitting on the side of the road holding the sheet. I asked him what happened.
He said, “My vegetable cart has been stolen!”