Helped me....

I might be an earning individual who tries every month to be completely financially independent (and failing miserably) but I still become a five year old when I enter a grocery store with my father. In my childhood, time with my father was rare and half my conversations with him revolved around how he owed me chocolates.

So as is customary, when my father decided to visit the store, I saw an opportunity to get myself some chocolates. We both entered the store and I happily walked to the aisle filled with chips and nachos. There was a really young boy who was picking up this immoderately priced bag of nachos. I simply picked the one next to him and walked to the counter. I couldn't help but glance back at the boy. I saw his sister go up to him and pick up a bag of chips, glance at the twenty rupee note in her hand and put it on the counter and walk out. The boy was still indecisive as to what he wanted to buy but I could tell that the twenty rupee note in his hand had also made the decision easier for him.

While my father payed for the several snacks and chocolates I had managed to carry to the counter, this scenario took me back to a childhood scene. Several years ago when I was but a young child, my father drove me to the store and gave me a hundred rupee note (which to a young child like me seemed like a million rupees). He told me to buy myself the chocolate I wanted and get back the change. While I was at the store, a young boy, barefoot and with slightly torn clothes walked in. He wanted to buy a tetra pack of frooti for which he did not have enough money. His father followed and I could see him struggling with coins to pay for what his son's heart desire. I wanted to ask the shop keeper to take the money from mine but I feared hurting their self respect or irking my dad since it was his money (Not that he got angry easily but I had never handled money on my own before). I also felt really bad for the father who didn't want to let his child down. He would have done anything, given up anything in the world at that moment to be his child's hero.

I went back to the car and told my dad what had happened. I will never forget what he told me that day. He told me that he would never be angry with me for helping someone and that money was just money. If it helped make me a better person or helped bring a smile to someone's face, I shouldn't think about it at all.

So it was a pretty easy decision to make when, today, I turned back, half way to the car, and walked up to the young boy and his sister and handed the back of nachos to them. While  the boy was reluctant to take it, his sister eagerly accepted it with a big smile on her face. When I turned back and walked towards my father, I could see the same smile on his face.

While the young me did not know what to do, as I continue to grow, some decisions are just so easy. Which is why I wish more people would learn to pay it forward.

Growing up, my parents were my heroes. I believe that I owned the world and that all our dreams came true. I believed we were all equal. Boys, girls, rich, poor, fair, dark...these were just words. Which is why it is so painful for me to see how some parents struggle to fulfill their children wants. For a child to learn early on that some kids are luckier than the others. That some aren't allowed to dream. That to me is just cruel.

Because discrimination is created by mankind.

Every child should be allowed to dream. To feel safe and to believe that their parents are heroes. That we are all equal.

I wish that every shop, restaurant, school and cafe in India could let us pay it forward. It is such a simple gesture but so powerful. Because I know that I wouldn't mind paying it forward every week. And I would definitely not mind that smile every day.

PC: Rashida Fida Ali