A Collection of Short Stories

Once in a crowded market

My mother was ill then. She had asked me to buy her some fresh oranges and cookies from the market before I came home. Finishing my work, I left the office early that afternoon.

I hustled through the crowded marketplace at four o' clock. It escaped my mind that the day was Wednesday when shopkeepers offered huge discounts on everyday commodities. Grey clouds shrouded the earth from the rays of the setting sun, making the atmosphere a bit gloomy and moist.

Squeezing my way through the crowd, I finally reached my usual shop. Phew! I was almost crushed in the process. I don't think everyone knows that such discounts are given only on the stale products for the sole purpose of clearing the old stock. No matter, people will always rush to the place where anything is offered cheaply. An old habitude, I felt for my wallet in my pockets, which to my utter dismay, turned out to be empty.

I looked helplessly at the enormous moving crowd. How will I ever find my purse in there? If it is still there?

Resigning myself to the fact that the search was meaningless, I wandered along with the crowd until I found a moss-covered bench in a less crowded place of the market. I sat at the cleaner end and began to contemplate why such bad things happen to me when I had done nothing wrong.

My eyes inadvertently became affixed to an old sweeper who kept sweeping the marketplace wherever he found a vacant spot, picking up occasionally with trembling hands, the scraps of garbage that people threw away carelessly. He wore a small cap that covered his eyes and had put on a dirty jacket.

His old age was evident from his slowness of bending down and picking up a wrapper but he didn't show a single sign of exasperation. On the contrary, he kept on sweeping and picking up scrap as if oblivious to the cruel negligence of the crowd.

Some part of me wanted to get up and help the old man while the other restrained me. This dilemma went on for some time until I finally got up and walked towards the old man.

As I crouched down to help him, I noticed from the corner of my eye that he was smiling at me.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Flustered, I avoided making an eye contact with him. Looking down, I asked," Why don't you take a little rest? These people will keep on throwing wrappers anyway."

After a short pause, he replied," Yes they will. But fortunately, their negligence is far inferior to me than my own dedication to my duty."

I was a little shocked after hearing such words from a sweeper. Perhaps all the workers that I had encountered till now were of the complaining sort. They would skip work at the first hint of complacency they would find. I didn't show my shock and kept picking up the scraps. Neither of us spoke for a few minutes.

When I had finished helping him, I quickly went away and sat down on the nearest bench. The old man came soon, sweeping his way through the crowd.

Casually, he asked," Having a bad day?"

Perhaps my face conveyed the irritation inside my mind. I usually do not like to have a conversation with strangers but oddly, I felt like confiding with him, my problem. I told him how I lost my wallet.

"Why such things happen to people who have done nothing wrong?" I cried out.

"No bad things happen to those people. It is just that they run out of patience a little too soon."

"Rubbish! The person who would have found it must have already disappeared from this place. There's no goodness left in this world man. Everybody just wants to get rich the fastest way possible, some even relenting to the evil ways. Don't you read the news? Theft, murder, kidnap and what not! Everyday! Morning begins by reading headlines of the activities of terrorists"

The old man shook his head at this, conveying his denial. In his frail voice, he spoke," There still live great people, Sir. Great people who work day and night without caring for any appreciation or outcomes of their work. They bend down and help others without any desire for rewards. Such people may not be in the top ranks, may not rank amongst the wealthiest, may not have a good health even! But it is only because of those few fellows, that the world has not torn itself apart from chaos."

"Such people are only myths." I retorted.

"Such people dwell the same earth as you and me."

Just as he had spoken those words, a young man came up to me. He wore simple clothes, had spectacles on his eyes and had a casual smile lit up forever on his face. He had average looks. If he could have wanted he can easily blend in a crowd and no one will ever find him again.

"Excuse me, Sir." He said as if he recognises me. "Does this happen to be yours?" He held up a wallet with both his hands as if a prized treasure.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I took the wallet from him and checked its contents. It was indeed my wallet.

"Thank you so much kind sir. I had given up all hope to find this again. No words can express my gratitude! Wait, take this." I held out a few bills to him.

He raised his hands not wanting to take my money. He just smiled and said,"Be careful next time," before he left.

"Hey man, you were ri-" I spoke turning to the direction of the sweeper but I found no one standing there.

That day, I had the opportunity to meet two great men in my life.