Good people

Apart from cunning and vile people I met, there were a few gems I came across. One of such people was Vesta.

Vesta was a man from tribal region of Maharashtra. He used to work at my uncle's home. He would do all housework - prepping for the meal, cleaning, running errands, dropping my cousins to school, picking them from school, small repairs, and many other things. Vesta was efficient. He was quick with his work. He was a hardworking man with high moral standards.

I remember seeing him for the very first time. I must have been very young probably 3 or 4 years old. When I saw Vesta for the first time I got scared. He was dark, tall, had wide eyes and big mustache. He looked scary to me. But then over the year I saw that how helpful he was. How my uncle, aunt, and the cousins' lives were easy because of him. Also I saw that he was a very kind man. Gradually my fear completely disappeared.

Vesta loved my uncle's family. He would call my uncle "Bhau" (brother in Marathi) and also would at as if he was his real brother. He would call my aunt Vahini (sister in law in Marathi) and watch equally caring towards her. It was like his own duty to make my aunt's work as easy as possible. He would help my uncle and my aunt in every possible way. He would love my cousins as if he was their uncle. My cousins to would call him Kaka (uncle in Marathi) and would love him as if he was an actual blood relative. Vesta being very old would still play with my cousins. He would tell them stories from his childhood and village. He had become a family member.

There were several mysteries about Vesta. Uncle met him when he was working in Dahanu, where Vesta was a caretaker. Uncle asked him if he would like to work for him and come to Mumbai. Vesta agreed and came to Mumbai with uncle. But a lot of things about Vesta were not known to anybody. Nobody knew where he was from. He was not from Dahanu but sone remote village. He never spoke about his family and it was unknown if he had any family. He would tell the stories about his village but he was unable to remember the name of the village. The biggest question of all was his age. When uncle first saw him he was past his youth. He was very old but nobody including himself did not know how old he was. Despite of all the mysteries, Vesta had proved time and again how loyal and loving he was.

When I was in 20s I saw Vesta the very last time. He appeared frail and weak. My uncle told me that he was unable to eat because of his old age. He had taken Vesta to hospital but he refused to take medicines or get hospitalized. Few days later, Vesta died. My uncle had lost a loyal friend, aunt had lost a loving brother, and cousins lost their uncle. My uncle performed all rites as per the Hindu traditions.

Even after several years of passing, Vesta still remains in their memories. My cousins still miss him. His ordinary story was worth telling because loyal helps like Vesta are rare. He was a real gem.

Some people make a long lasting impression in our lives. One such person was "Dhanu".

We were in school back then, maybe 6-7 years old. Disha, my school friend and I were inseparable. I often used to visit Disha's home to play. There we have a kind, caring, and loving companion, her name was Dhanashri shortened as Dhanu. She was a stay at home help and nanny. Dhanu was a few years elder to us and loved spending time with us. She would play with us. She would ensure that we play carefully and do not get hurt. Dhanu felt less like a nanny and more like an elder sister.

Once I asked Disha about Dhanu's backstory. Disha told me that she was the daughter of the man who works as a caretaker at their ancestral home. One summer Disha's family visited their village. Dhanu was at the properly helping her dad. When Disha fell and got injured, Dhanu promptly helped her and calmed her. She sat with Disha till she stopped crying. This simple act of kindness was witnessed by Disha's parents. They were looking for a nanny for Disha and they found Dhanu to be a right fit. At village, Dhanu was not doing much, she was not even enrolled at school. The caretaker was a poor man and taking care of the family was a burden. Disha's parents asked the caretaker if they can take Dhanu to Mumbai to work as a nanny. He willingly agreed. That is how Dhanu came to Mumbai and started living with Disha's family.

Disha's parents always treated Dhanu as if she was their daughter. After bringing her to Mumbai, they enrolled her to a school. They helped her to get educated. They treated her well. When Dhanu passed her 10th examination, they got her admitted into a college.

I had witnessed Dhanu's journey myself. She was smart and kind but she was not interested in studies. She was more interested in taking care of the children. Dhanu somehow passed 12th exam after several attempts. She expressed her desire of becoming a nursery assistant to Disha's mother. She enrolled her in a course which would give Dhanu the opportunity to venture into that field. Dhanu did excel in that course and bagged a job at a daycare facility.

Dhanu was happy with her job. She was still living with Disha's family. One day Dhanu was called back to her village because of her father's demise. When Dhanu returned she told Disha's parents that her mother had fixed her marriage with a man in village. Dhanu was ready to give up her job to marry him. Dhanu soon got married. When it was the time to say goodbye to Disha and her parents, Dhanu cried a lot. She treated them as her real family.

Few years later we learnt that Dhanu had opened her own daycare facility at the village. She was a successful businesswoman. Dhanu kept sharing her photos and videos with Disha keeping her updated.

Dhanu still works in the village. She is still in touch with Disha and her parents. Dhanu also attended Disha's wedding. Dhanu promised that whenever Disha gives birth to a baby she should come to take care of the baby, same way as she cared for Disha.

When I was in college be used to do group studies. One day for our group studies we visited our friend Mita's house. We directly started with our studies and that went on for approximately 1 hour. After that we need it a short break.

Mita went into the kitchen and returned within a few seconds. A couple of minutes later we saw an elderly women with hunched back entering the room. She was carrying a tray with glasses of water and plates with some snacks. She served this to all of us and promptly left the room. She reminded me of my own grandmother whom I had lost previous year. When we were done with our snacks I got up to keep my plate and cutlery in the kitchen. Mita told me to leave it there. The same old woman appeared again to pick up the plates. Looking at her physical condition I felt like she should not work and she should rest. I asked my friend about her. Mita told me that she was a distant relative and she had been to their house to help with the household work.

Mita explained further to me because I was concerned about the woman. Mita had been calling her Mavshi (meaning maternal aunt in Marathi). The woman was a distant cousin of her mother. Mavshi used to stay in Goa. She did not have any relatives apart from Mita's mother. When Mita was a toddler, her mother asked her distant cousin "Mavshi" to come and stay with them in Mumbai. Mavshi happily came to Mumbai and started living with Mita's family. She took on the role of caretaker, cook, and nanny.

Mita told me that as long as she remembered she had always seen Mavshi as an old woman. She had never seen her as a young woman. Mavshi was old but she wanted to remain active. She had always been working in her house. In her youth she had worked at the rice fields and hence housework was a piece of cake for her. Mita's family did not oppose her decision because after all it was very helpful for Mita's working parents. Mavshi would cook and take care of the house while everyone was away.

Mavshi had been well cared for at Mita's home. Her parents treated her well. Mita too treated her not like a house help but like a relative. Afterall she was related by blood. I had met Mavshi at several occasions whenever I had visited Mita's place. I even spoke with her however she could not understand Marathi properly. She was from Goa and could only understand Goan Konkani. However she was able to understand "Thank you" which I would always say whenever I would visit Mita's home.

After college Mita and I chose different career paths. Our meetings and communication became distant. Yet one day, Mita had texted me, "I wanted to let you know that Mavshi died yesterday. She was unwell for a couple of days. Her last rites would take place at her native village in Goa. I informed you because you would always show care and gratitude towards her".

After reading that message I felt really sad. I was not related to her yet I felt a very prominent affection towards her. I felt sad because we had lost one of the very good people from this earth.

In 2018 I left my childhood home and moved to a different part of the city. When we settled at our new home, we appointed a young woman called Maya to be our cook.

Maya came from a working class family. Her mother worked with a food catering service as a cook. Her father was working at a grocery shop. Her husband worked with an interior decorator as a carpenter. She worked as a home cook with various families. Maybe it was her background of service industry which made her humble and polite.

Maya started working at our home. Her first point of contact in our home was my mother. She would speak politely and respectfully with everyone including my young nephew who was 1 year old at that time. She was obedient too. She would dutifully complete her work and leave. Unlike other house helps or cooks she would not indulge in gossip.

One day we came to know that Maya's birthday falls on the same day as my birthday. She was just two years older to me. It made a really special connection between me and Maya.

In 2019 my mother underwent a surgery. She was required to get complete bed rest for the next 2 to 3 months. During this period Maya's work in our home increased. We asked her to come to our home twice in a day to make lunch and dinner. Maya wilfully agreed to this request. She would come everyday in the afternoon and in the evening to come and cook. At the end of the month my father offered her twice of her salary because she had been coming twice a day doing twice the work that was earlier promise to her. But she declined to take that money. She said that she worked to help our family and she was not expecting anything in return. She did not take the payment from my dad so my mother pitched in and convinced her to take the money that was being offered.

Next few months were seamless because of Maya's hardwork and effort. During these months Maya told me something that one could have shared only with their close friend. She told me about the hurdle she was facing with starting a new family. She had been married for over 7 years. Yet they were not able to conceive. They visited a lot of doctors and fertility clinics. The conclusion was that she had cysts because of which conception became difficult. She had shown me those reports and medicines because she knew that I am from medical field. When she had shown me those reports she was little scared. With fear in her eyes she asked me, "will I ever become a mother?" I reassured her that with treatment and the course she would be able to conceive.

Few months later in March 2020 the lockdown began. During that period, we had asked Maya to not come to our home. In July 2020 Maya gave a call to my mother to tell that she would be moving to her native place. Maya and her husband had decided to leave their life from the Metro city and move back to their native village where the living was cost effective, the air was not polluted, and life was quieter. That was the last time when we heard anything from Maya.

I really hope that she is happy wherever she is because she deserves that happiness.

I am an elder millennial. I come from the time where the childhood was not the glamorous. Schools also were not glamorous. In such unglamorous places we found some genuinely kindhearted people. One of them was the school security guard.

We did not know what his name was. We all used to call him security Kaka. He was a tall, dark, and sleender man probably in his late 50s or early 60s. He did look old. Yet at that age he was athletic and quick. He was the only security guard of the school who would work in the shift which would start from 6:30 in the morning and would continue till 7 o'clock in the evening.

He was very kind and friendly. When the school gates would open he would greet every child and their parent. He would smile at each and every person. I had never seen him shouting at anybody. All we knew about him was that he was from Indian Military forces. He retired from the military and started working as a security guard at various places. But then he found his solace at our school where he had been working for over 15 years.

There was a few incidents which highlighted his quick thinking and mindfulness.
Once there was a time where one student tried to escape the school. The security guard caught the student and ensured that the student returns to the class.
There was an attempt of abduction at my school. In my school there was a girl who came from a high profile family. One day two people came to our school telling that they are the girl's relatives. They said that the girl's mother had a terrible accident, she had been hospitalised, and wished to see her daughter. They had come to pick up the girl so that they could take her to the hospital (apparently). Here the security guard did one small act of verification. He asked them about the girls mother's name and father's name. Also he told the visitors that he was going to ask the principal to call up the girl's home to ensure that the story they had been telling its real. After hearing this the visitors fled from the school. A police complaint was filed and later the investigations revealed that the visitors were criminals who had come to abduct the girl. With his cleverness he was able to save a girl's life.
Another incident was little mild yet it showed how kind he was. Once the school sessions were over and one student was waiting for their parent to come and pick them. It was almost half an hour past the close of the school sessions yet the parent had not arrived. This is when the security guard started telling various stories to the student to keep their mind away from the fact that their parents were not yet there. He narrated the stories so that the student could stay entertained till their parents arrived. He did that so that the student would not cry till their parents arrived.

The security guard was a kind man at the same time he had shown his bravery and mindfulness at numerous occasions. The security guard was released from his duties due to his old age when I was in Grade 8. Even today I still remember him. Wherever he is I pray that he is happy.

Not every person has to do good deeds towards human beings, some people do those towards animals. Such people are equally kind and special to be mentioned and remembered. One such person I encountered was a lady who used to feed cats.

One day I was returning home early from the office. While on my way back I saw that all cats had been sitting in a queue. Each cat had a small plate in front of them with cat food. The cats were peacefully feasting on the food which was served to them. I wondered who had given the food to the cats. While I was a looking at the cats, the security guard informed me that a lady feeds these cats everyday twice in a day. He did not know the name of this lady but he told me that she lives nearby. She would visit everyday to feed the cats in the morning and in the evening. She brings cat food along with that she also brings unflavoured butter milk for the cats. I was surprised as well as delighted to see that the cats had been taken care of and fed well.

This cat feeder lady would not only feed the cats but she would also take care of them. She had gotten most of the cats spayed or neutered. She would also ensure that the cats are getting vaccinated. She was doing this all for the stray cats. She was unable to take them to her home because cats were not allowed in the apartment where she was staying. This is what I came to know from the security guard.

I wanted to meet this lady personally and let her know that I appreciate her work. I also wanted to tell her that I was ready to help her with taking care of the cats. I tried to meet that woman several times. I would visit that area at various different hours during the weekend only in the hopes that I would be able to meet the cat feeding lady. That never happened. I did not decide to feed the cats from my end because I did not want to overfeed the cats. I wanted to co-ordinate with that lady so that we can take turns and ensure that the cats in our area are well fed and taken care of.

In the year 2020 when the lockdowns were announced, that time I was really worried for those stray cats. I worried that the lady would not be able to leave her home to feed the cats. Yet in that situation nothing could have been done. The restrictions were lifted off, I visited that area only to find that there were no cats. The same security guard informed me that a few days before the lockdown began the lady came and picked up all the cats. She was moving to a different city and hence decided that she would take all the cats with her to the new city. This is how she had shown her love towards the feline community.

I know that this story is little unusual from the ones I have shared earlier. Yet I believe that for the love and kindness that was shown towards the furry creatures, this lady definitely deserves a mention.