Karma

 

18 years back in London I was travelling in a bus and as I was about to get off I saw a bag. I picked the bag and thought of handing it over to the driver, as the thing to be done. But the driver's shift was changing and he had come out of his cab. I was getting late so I took the bag with me. When I reached home I opened the bag and found all the essential documents of an old woman. Passport, driving licence, social security book, bills, cash included. There was no number mentioned, only the address. I thought of going to the address and returning the documents to the rightful owner. I went but no one was there. The neighbour informed me that she was in hospital and will be discharged within a day. I left a short note with my number on it and put it through the mailbox. The neighbour warned me that the old woman suffered from mental health issues. I thought of going to the police if she failed to communicate within three days. However, on the third day she called me. I asked her a few questions for verification and then decided upon a meeting point that evening.

When I met her I handed over the documents to her but she looked uneasy. She said "The forty five pounds here in the bag is all that I have. I have nothing to give you as a reward". I said it was nothing really. She said "No, kindness must always be repaid so that it is encouraged and the cycle continues. But I'm afraid I have nothing for you." I thought of her words and said "Actually you can repay me back. I saw a rosary in your bag which means you pray faithfully. Please pray for me that should I ever lose anything precious of mine, it should be returned to me". She smiled and said "Amen!"

Two years back I was in Rajkot, preparing for my trip to London. I had been living in India for 12 years and had to ensure I had all the necessary documents. I had left home early in the morning, picked up my tickets, my bank and other important documents and when returning home I realised the bag was missing. I looked for it everywhere, every vegetable and fruit vendor, every shop that was en route from the last place visited by me. After 2 hours of fruitless searching I came home broken. I had to go to the police station, register a missing documents report and would then get duplicates of the originals I lost.

And the phone rang. A person asked me a few questions and then said the bag was with them. This will sound silly but I burst crying. The man patiently waited for me to calm down and explained where I could pick the documents from. And then it struck me that my number wasn't mentioned anywhere on the documents. I asked him and he said he found the bag at a vegetable vendor's cart. He picked it and meant to hand it over to the police but had to go to the bank first. He mentioned the bag and its contents to the clerk. Coincidentally, it was the same branch as mine. The clerk recognised my name and gave my number to the man. When I picked up the bag I was in tears and asked him how could I ever repay him. Suddenly it was a déjà vu moment, except I was the recipient of the kindness. He smiled and said he did what was right. I smiled and said "I pray to God that you may never lose anything precious to you and if at all you do, may it be returned to you intact immediately".

The reason I shared this incident is that when we do good we expect good from that person. But that's not necessarily how karma works. You do good to person A and later on person B will repay that good to you. To expect to be repaid in kind for kindness from the same person often leads to disenchantment. Keep doing good. And it will all come back to you one day, at the right time.

God bless you all.

~ Sheetal Soni