We are here to serve

By Varuna Ratnaweera

This is something that happened to me on a rainy evening. The day had been a tiring one in office, yet I decided to attend a funeral house to pay respect to my friend’s father who had passed away the previous day.

As I was driving back from the funeral house it was already dark and it started raining heavily. The vision through my windscreen became so blurred that I could hardly see the road although the two wiper blades were trying their best to keep the heavy downpour away from it.

As the area was not so familiar I turned to a narrow lane to get connected to the main road as fast as possible and I saw a trishaw that was approaching me from the opposite end. And it was then that disaster struck. The sound of the trishaw knocking something on to the driving side of the car was so loud that I thought it would have caused a big damage to my car. I stopped the car right in the middle of the road and put the shutter down, peeped out of the car window and saw that the front wheel of the trishaw had fallen right into a manhole, already overflowing without its lid. The trishaw driver started trying his best to reverse it out of the manhole but it didn’t move an inch even after several attempts and then he got out of the trishaw leaving the two lady passengers inside, who I thought were a mother and a daughter.

The rain had turned to a light shower by then and I got out of the car leaving it right where I had stopped. In fact it was such a narrow road there was hardly any space to take the car to a side. The Prado jeep behind me started to toot the horn as if I had committed a serious crime. That driver was actually using the typical courteous greeting that Sri Lankan drivers are well known for, in situations such as these! I also heard him addressing me with some rude terms, which I decided to ignore at that time, thinking he will realise that my intention was to help another. I told the trishaw driver that it will not be possible to take it out by reversing it as his front wheel was right inside the manhole.

Then I rolled up the sleeves of my long sleeved shirt, and much to his surprise tried to help him lift it. He had requested his passengers, the two ladies to alight the vehicle to reduce the weight and got the driver of the trishaw just behind him to jerk it to help in the process.

But as there was still no movement the man started trying to lift the trishaw with his hands placed inside the man hole which was over flowing with all the dirty water and the smell emanated from it was stinking to the level that no one could even breathe.

There was no success even after several attempts like this.

Then came a trishaw driver from another one that had just stopped behind the Prado and he kind of shrugged me away and told the man already seated in the driving seat of the trishaw, “This won’t do brother, put it to the neutral gear and lets lift it and push it back,” and with the help of two others while the owner of the trishaw was still lifting it with his hands we succeeded in pushing it out on to the road again.

I being the first one to get off the car and offer him help, the look on his face was filled with so much gratitude and he started thanking me profusely. Then I asked whether he had any water to wash his hands, and when he replied in the negative I took out the big plastic bottle of tap water I have in my car just for a situation like this, opened the lid and poured the water on his hands for him to wash away the dirty water. Before he got back to the trishaw to continue his hire, he said, Sir you are such a kind hearted gentleman and I have never in my life come across a person like you, who would go out of the way to help a stranger on the road.

Having patted him on the shoulder I got into my car to continue my journey back home.

That night as I was driving home I was reflecting on some lessons that I learnt from the incident.

1) Never have second thoughts in helping a person in trouble even if he hasn’t reached out to you for help.

2) We should extend our assistance to any one irrespective of his stature or whether he is known to us or not

3) Expertise can come from a person whom you least expect it from and at certain instances that can be the most important piece of advice

4) It is always useful to be ready for unexpected occurrences 

5) It will always be safer to use familiar terrain when in doubt

6) The time will always be right to do the right thing, whether it is raining or not, whether it is day or night

7) Sometimes you have to ignore those who come in your way, in your quest to do a helpful deed

8) Life gives us opportunities to serve mankind and it is our duty to take them with both hands!

(The writer is a founder member of TMC and a former Chairman of TMC Colombo and former President of Chartered Management Institute, SL Branch.)