Benumbed People-Help

 

    My former neighbour was stressed over a religious function at her place and the lack of space required for the same. She was worried how to avoid overcrowding. We had shifted to the complex very recently but we could guess her problem was genuine . We decided to help her.

We asked her to use our living room and dining space for her guests. The extra number of guest could come to our home. She was extremely thankful and told us that it wouldn’t be too much of an issue . Come, pray, wait a bit for the prasad (sacred offerings) and then move to the garden area for lunch. Everything seemed manageable.

Then arrived the function day.

The  guests soon started swelling and all of them were directed to our place. Situation wasn’t very good but we didn’t mind. Soon, people started going to our bedroom to relax… as per our neighbour’s directions! There were people in our kitchen, living room, bedroom, passage… everywhere. And no one seemed to be in a hurry to leave.

Mum and I didn’t have place to sit in our own home!!

No one was remotely interested in sitting for the actual puja (prayer). Our neighbour’s home was nearly empty.   Food buffet was thrown open after puja finished, people started heaping their plates and coming to our place for comfortable eating. It wouldn’t have been an issue if they maintained decorum. But the way they dropped food and spilled water, without a care for our home, was unacceptable. Some made their kids sit on our bed to eat!

Amidst all this , our neighbour was breezing in and out of our home without a hint of concern over the misuse of our humble efforts of help. Since the occasion was a holy one and the decision to help out was ours, we quietly waited for the day to get over. Saying anything to the guests would diminish the beauty of the occasion and leave a bad impression about the arrangements. This might hurt our neighbour and we decided to allow our help to be flexible.

The guests finally left. We took prasad and finally closed the door . There were stains on the walls and sheets. The floor was dirty, used plates and glasses were everywhere. Our neighbor made no mention of providing cleaning assistance. I made mum rest while I got down to tackling the mess. When our neighbor came to collect any unused cold drinks lying in our fridge, she turned a blind eye to the dirty zone that was being transformed into a home again. While leaving she did say thanks to my mother with an added comment.

“People were complaining about the heat but I apologised for the lack of AC here.”

When she left, all the grief over the abuse of help and  just melted away and I started laughing! Mum soon joined in. The lady’s parting remark had given a comical spin to the disaster of an experience.

Moral of Story-There’s no end to some people’s insensitivity .They are benumbed when given help.

Sukarma Thareja