Veer Bahadur
Veer Bahadur literally translates as Brave — Courageous
On my last bike trip to the Himalayas, I had an extraordinary encounter. I was on the last day of my bike-journey; on the way downhill to be back for further return trip to home. I was already cribbing in my head with visuals or returning to work and complains for the roads, sun and almost anything that could agitate.
About an hour later I saw a man almost in his 50s and with crutches walking on the roadsides uphill towards Badrinath. I just felt a bit bad for him and stopped to talk to him and possibly get him water. This opened a profound conversation with him.
He was a labourer, who had lost his knee to an accident at work, he had a costly surgery but it had failed. His family was in Nepal and he chose begging around religious places a couple of years back. He was so aware about his condition that begging was addictive and made him weak to go back to work now. I offered to help and gave him Rs 500. He was filled with tears and said would last him a sometime as he can get food and accommodation for free sometimes. I said I can give you more that can last you months, maybe Rs 10,000 He vigorously collected himself and pushed back, saying he should not become greedy, god will take care and will find more comfort once he reaches a bigger temple. We shook hands, I took his picture and started riding back.
Weirdly, this sent me into some sort of trance. I broke down middle of the road, stopped my bike and kept crying for almost 30 mins. Thinking about how much do I complain and the courage it takes to take life face -on. This experience will live with me for a long time. I will crib, cry and complain but I strongly hope I always remember VeerBahadur and be a bit more courageous.
