107. Seed of Goodwill

I am waiting for him in front of a Mall (which he had told me) near a Metro station beyond Yamuna river in Delhi.
I am bit anxious. We had talked few times on the phone. He sounded like a person whom I can very well trust. But one never knows.
I am in unknown parts of the city, in not much familier city. It is evening time - the Sun has already disappeared beyond horizons. I have a plan to explore unknown areas with him. What if he is not a good person?

Sounds like a bollywoodish story? Too familier?
No, that is not the story. This is a different real life experience.

I meet G at the appointed time at the appointed place. He looks young but he is a family man - married and has kids. Within seconds I start walking with him. We move on to different areas. G is helping me to identify accommodation in Delhi. We move on from place to place - first in a cycle rikshaw and then walk. On the way we talk. He asks me questions about my job, my past, my hobbies, my plans. Without any hesitation I answer his questions. I too ask him about his work, his family, his hobbies. He answers those.

At the end of the house hunt, he is coming to see me off to the Metro station. I know that one of his colleagues is waiting at his office. I insist that I would go alone and he can spend time with his colleague. He invites me to his office. I go in. There is nobody except his friend. G asks his friend to bring in soft drink for us. We drink that cool liquid and chat.

I call S - to tell him that I am with G and possibly my search for accommodataion might end here.

Who is S?

I have met S only once. I was referred to him by D.

Who is D?

D; I met long back - sometime in 1996. We were part of a meeting and then he motivated me to write. Till then I was writing only scholarly articles but never about my thoughts, feelings and experiences. D was instrumental in drawing out that side of me. I wrote a series of articles for a newspaper that year - thanks to D. Incidently D was the editor of that newspaper!

Then I lost track of D. Recently when I started my Marathi blog, AbdaShabda, I posted some of the writing that was published in 1996. I rememberd D, wanted to say Thanks to him. One of our common friends connected us and we started communicating as if there was no gap.

A seed sown long back has given so many unexpected fruits to me.
I am sure it happens to all of us.
The seed of goodwill has such a long and ever expanding life! It brings surprises, it brings happiness, it brings so much joy .. and it produces many more seeds of goodwill.. that is the beauty of it!