Make a Request

While I drove towards an intersection today, a small kid waved his arm requesting me to stop. His school was on the opposite side of the road. I stopped and let him cross and wondered why he didn't wait at the zebra crossing 100 metres away.

And then I wondered why I even stopped in the first place?! Shouldn't I have just kept going? This kid would've crossed when the traffic thinned down, or the traffic policeman might have asked him to go to the zebra crossing and wait for the light.

So why did I stop? When I asked myself that question, I realized that I responded to a request. This kid requested me to stop, and I obliged.

Several times I have stood at an intersection assuming that people would stop for me, because in my head I thought -  'isn't that the way to be?' . In the western countries, several people show courtesies like giving way to pedestrians, giving way to drivers who have been waiting in a no-signal zone, etc. And here in India, no one does that. Maybe that's why people try to push their way to get through.

But this little kid made a request. He didn't try to push his way through. He made a request and I stopped for him. Now this isn't a Bollywood movie - He didn't smile or wave after walking past, but somehow I felt happy. Happy that I was able to do something for someone else. And I guess that's a natural feeling. We all love to give, we all love to spread happiness.

But how would we know what makes you happy? Tell us! Make that request. It wouldn't make you a smaller person.