By Samit Garg
This incident is about 3 years old. Every year in November, Delhi organizes International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan, and lakhs of people visit from all over India and abroad. Similarly, many people from far off villages too come to see this annual fair.
I am now working but that time I was a student of Hindu college and have been a regular visitor to Trade Fair. While crossing the Rural Development pavilion, which is quite in a corner, I found a small rural girl of 5-6 years sobbing. People were passing by and few families were standing beside her.
Initially I thought may be her mother or father have scolded her and that is why she is crying. But in few minutes these families too moved but the girl stood and now had started asking for help. People looked at her, as if she was a beggar. No one bothered about her. At last she started shouting for help but still no one helped her. She had now literally started hauling – ‘please help me please help me’.
I could guess some thing was wrong. I rushed to her and asked her what happened. She informed that her name is ‘Tulsi’ and that she was holding her father’s hand and in the crowd she lost him. She was too scared to narrate and I could see she did not belong to Delhi. I asked her not to worry and we would together find them and gave her some water. She holded my hand and asked me to help find her parents and she is feeling very scared.
After waiting for 10-15 minutes, thinking someone from her family will come, I took her to nearby ‘Help Booth’ set-up by Pragati Maidan, but not before leaving a message to the nearby shop that if someone comes asking for her send them to nearby booth.
The announcement was made and repeated many times but no one came. I believed it was difficult to hear these announcements in so much of crowd noise.
I had decided that I will stand beside her and she was continuously holding my finger and not allowing me to leave. After 3 hours of wait I could hear an announcement from another booth asking about the missing child that described her appearance. It was a sign of relief. I told her not to worry now and her parents are reaching here any moment.
As Tulsi saw her mother, she ran towards her and I moved, leaving her happy and smiling. It was the turn of the mother to cry now.
I did not wait for anyone to thank me. Why should I ? I just did what some one else could have done at my place.
It was only my day to help someone. A KHUSHI still prevails whenever I remember this incident.
(Samit Garg lives in New Delhi)
(Sourced from http://khushi-creatinghappiness.blogspot.in/2012/08/vedanta-khushi-tulsi-shouted-for.html)
“KHUSHI – Care for the Underprivileged Children” is a mission started on fulfilling the objective and let know the world that we docare for these children – their Nutrition – Education – Health and overall development. “KHUSHI” – a Vedanta Group initiative – is aimed to bring in together like minded people to spread this awareness amongst colleagues, friends, relatives and people around, through word of mouth or through e-medium and the way one feels would be useful. Send heart-felt stories at khushi.creatinghappiness@gmail.com
