Musings
All that glitters….
have some gold
A.
Farjad Ahmed
Dateline Dhaka, Saturday November
13, 2004, 7 pm. I am rushing towards my friends' place in
Gulshan to catch the second half of the Pakistan-India cricket
match on a 50" TV; the game promises to be nothing
less than a Hitchcock thriller. My eight-year-old son Atef
is with me, he wants to meet up with his 10-year-old cousin
Raeesa. I am driving and listening to the jazz classic--"The
Lion and The Wolff by Lee Morgan. Feeling happy, good, excited,
ebullient. Then just when I am about to take a U-turn, I
pause and catch a glimpse of a white Toyota sedan cruising
at moderate speed heading in the opposite direction of the
road divider. Nothing wrong with that except within a blink
of an eye, the Toyota loses control and collides head-on
with my car (2004 Nissan). The jolt was not strong enough
to disengage the air bag, but it disengaged something worse--my
anger. As expected, I was absolutely flabbergasted. The
fact that my mobile phone decided to die on me that very
morning didn't help to assuage my nerves either.
While I went on ranting, the driver/owner
did not utter a word, appeared to be in a state of sheer
disbelief himself, and without hesitation, emphatically
apologised. I, of course, was not in the mood for apologies
and continued to regurgitate my entire treasure trove of
swear words on the poor soul. The driver/owner, still calm,
introduced himself as a physician--chest specialist, to
be precise; I retorted that I didn't care if he was George
(expletive) Bush. While I continued to berate, he clearly
displayed compunction and gave me his telephone numbers
assuring me that he will bear full expense of my damaged
vehicle. Words, of course, were clearly inadequate to console
me at this time. I took down the number of the vehicle and
hastily drove off, fully aware that my anger might get the
better of me if I remained at the "crash site".
Within 15 minutes, I questioned my
wisdom in letting the driver off the hook so easily : What
if he denied involvement in the accident? What if he went
against his word and refused to compensate? "Ifs"
and"Buts" began to convolute my mind and I started
to feel like a complete idiot; I imagined the owner of the
other vehicle laughing all the way back. Despondent as ever,
my Eid appeared to be in tatters. Typically, an incident
like this in Dhaka would have ended here. Thankfully, this
has a happy ending. All my misgivings and distrust proved
false when I received full payment within 24 hours of presenting
the bill. No questions, no delays, nor did he object to
the figure -- the cost was steep by any standards and I
am sure he missed a heartbeat when I told him the amount.
A true, sincere, god fearing, honest gentleman, he turned
out to be. In this city where terms like values, ethics,
and commitment are not even an afterthought, it was indeed
heartening to come across a respectable and worthy citizen
whom I, literally, met by accident.
Copyright
(R) thedailystar.net 2004
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