Kindness Repaid

Kindness Repaid

"Sir, in which direction do I walk towards the railway station?” Perplexed, I turned to explain that it was too far. He was a labourer from Nasik, abandoned by the contractor in a busy Gurugram crossing. After waiting since morning, lost and penniless, he was treading the long way back home!

He did not seek any money. I offered some anyway, for his travel fare and food. Teary eyed, he accepted and promised to repay someday.

The kind deed done, I was walking away when a passing neighbour asked "Have you paid anything sir? They are con artists."

Inspired by the opening story of a Jeffrey Archer anthology, my sister Jaya challenged me, as Reader’s Digest had done to Jeffrey Archer. The challenge was simple – to write a short story in 100 words. Not in 99 words, not in 101 words – but in 100 words alone. And it had to be a complete short story, with a beginning, a mid-section and an end. The above is my response to the challenge – in exact hundred words, including the title of the story.

The story is inspired by a true incident. Characters and places may have been changed to maintain due confidentiality.

Chinmoy Bhattacharjee

21^st January 2019

Gurugram