Although I am finding it quite hard to translate into appropriate words many of my Indian experiences, there is a small story which I will try and tell justly. It is so typical of day-to-day life here, but the impact it has on you is immeasurable.
I was walking with a friend late one evening down by the Ganges on Dasaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi. It was a very cold night. There was an older man , most likely with no family, and definitely no home. He was lying directly on the icy cold concrete, under a wooden bench. He had a dirty, paper thin blanket, a tiny candle which he was curling his fragile body around, settling in for the long night ahead.
As we walked past, he stuck his head up, and with one of those beautiful Indian smiles, greeted us in a language that wasn't his native tongue, a "good evening".
So if you think your having a bad day, or someone or something is annoying you, just think about the millions of people without family, friends or someplace to call home, who can still manage a loving smile for a complete stranger.
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