I was drifting into sleep on my upper berth on my first India train. I felt something slip out of my pocket onto the ground below. By the time I turned my head to search the ground, an Indian man had jumped out of his lower berth and was handing me my pen with a smile on his face.
Kindness is universal.
The next morning I was sitting on the lower berth watching Indian countryside fly by the window. I bought some delicious chai tea from a man on the train, but I couldn't understand how much money he wanted from me. The guy sitting next to me reached in his pocket and handed the chai tea salesman a coin, and he looked at me with a smile. For the rest of the journey he explained to me how Indian trains function, and when my stop would be coming up.
Kindnes is refreshing.
After constantly being bombarded and hassled by Indian men in New Delhi, I was glad to have experiences that reminded me of this. I was even more thankful for these truths the next night.
I was on an overnight bus from the bordertown of Sunali to Kathmandu. I fell asleep at around 8, but awoke at around midnight with a sudden pain in my stomach. I tried to kid myself into thinking I was fine by minimizing any movement in my abdomen, but I could only kid myself for so long. A lot of nasty things were about to come out of my body, and I had to get outside. Thankfully, the bus had made a quick pitstop, although I didn't know for how long. Climbing over See-Soo, the incredibly nice Nepali man next to me, I accidentally awoke him. By his request I explained what was going on, and he offered to assist me outside. After stumbling out of the bus, I whispered, "Where's the bathroom?". "In that door down there I think." he replied. I walked down a stone staircase and opened the door to a small shack.
BAHHH!!
*pooooop*
Two thought grenades exploded in my brain.
1. It's a fucking goat!
2. I just shit my pants!
Yes, yes, yes. Instead of being welcomed by a much-needed toilet, I was met by a loud and angry goat, which shocked me so much, I ended up using my pants as the toilet. Defeatedly, I closed the door to the shack and cleaned myself up to the best of my abilities behind the shack. Then I vomitted. I looked up and noticed for the first time that I was about 200 feet from a quiet and serene lake that was towered by rolling mountains on all sides. I was puking and pooping in paradise.
The realization that I was surrounded by beauty did nothing to alleviate the pain in my stomach, which now felt like it was ripping me apart from the inside.
I trudged back up the stairs and found See-Soo sipping on some tea with a few other passenger's outside a woman's shack. I recounted my unfortunate tale to See-Soo who told me, "You are sick, but it will be okay". He gave the woman a few ruppees, and she handed me a bottled water. "Drink slowly.", See-Soo told me. See-Soo spoke a few more words to the woman, upon which she sat down next to me and rubbed my back.
Kindness is Universal. Kindness is refreshing. And Kindness may be the only thing that makes you feel a little bit better after a goat-induced pooping of the pants.
No comments:
Post a Comment