What Goes Around, Comes Around

2020 was a year of learning. With the outbreak of the pandemic, people realised the worth of literally everything. With the lockdown being announced, when people had to do all the household work, they learnt the dignity of labour. We learnt not to take things for granted. People across the globe realised the importance of global cooperation and the necessity to find out a solution to combat this problem. So while the world was busy learning and the pandemic situation was slowly coming under control, the lockdowns in many countries were slowly lifted up. People could go about doing their work by taking the necessary safety precautions. When the lockdown in Bangalore was lifted, Sanvi heaved a sigh of relief as she got a call from the office that she has to report to the office on alternate days. All these days, she was doing work from home but along with that, she was endlessly scrubbing her house, surfaces and everything else clean due to the fear of the virus. Her daughter used to take online classes. One day while the English class was going on, and she happened to go to her daughter's room, she could hear the teacher teach a poem, "Fire and Ice". It was like death was ringing its knell everywhere. She went out of her daughter's room, thinking that she has had sufficient updates about death from the morning news. She had to get ready to go to work. After rustling a quick breakfast for everyone, and packing some food for herself she left. She reached the bus stop and when the bus came, she boarded it. She was travelling in the bus after many days and was surprised to see that it was so crowded. What virus and social distancing were the news channels talking about? God knows. Looked like everyone was out. After all, money is needed for survival. People were willing to risk the virus than dying of hunger. When her stop was about to come, Sanvi smiled at the bus driver. Though she was wearing a mask, her smile could be seen in her eyes. She told the bus driver," Thank you bhaiya. I admire the way you keep cool in heavy traffic. You did a good job of driving. Thank you for bringing me safely." The driver was very surprised. "Who says thank you to a bus driver madam?" he retorted. "I said it just now and I mean it," she said, waved in a friendly way and got down at her stop.

While walking to her office she thought about the conversation that had happened between her and the bus driver. She knew she had made his day. Who would not be happy if their work is appreciated? She could see the happiness reflected in the driver's eyes. She was just hoping that he would pass on the positive vibes to others. After all, what goes around comes around. If everyone realises this and passes on the goodwill to others, eventually it will come back to us. And it doesn't need any investment also. Just a few kind words. Let's spread happiness.