The Gold Heart and the Plate of Food
by Tanzina Ahmed C... | August 25, 2011 at 8:55 PM
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Yesterday was one of the most memorable days of my life. It is the eve of Ramadan ongoing and I came out of office by 4 pm, the usual office closing time. But the jam was so severe that I failed to reach my home before the beginning of the time to break my fast and suddenly, I found myself in the middle of the road, dehydrated and thirsty, and craving to grab one mouthful of something eatable. The situation became even worse when the CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)-run Taxi I was riding on, collapsed and I had to evacuate it promptly.
When I got down from the taxi, I saw that all shops around were closed, except one small grocery. I was sure that I could buy a bottle of mineral water from there. As I entered the shop, I saw the aged shop-owner was having "Iftar"(the fast-breaking meal) with his employees. I, at instant, thought of not disturbing them and decided to get out of the shop but was called from behind. The old shop-owner was waving his hand and only then, I thought of asking him for a bottle of mineral water. But, to my utter surprise, he denied to sell me one, instead he offered me his own glassful of chilled juice. That was not even enough, he passed me his own plate from where he was eating and urged me to taste from there.
Though, I am usually very concerned about personal hygiene, and the condition of both the plate and food that was offered to me was not up to the mark. But, at that moment, I was so taken aback by his generous act that though I, at first, thought of denying the glass of juice and persuade him to sell me a processed mineral water bottle instead, I could not do that and accepted his offer to share food from his plate. I don't know whether it was his generosity or the food itself, I felt like having the best meal of my life and I'll never forget the experience of having a "life-saving meal" (I must say) with a person who has a rare "gold-heart".
---Tanzina Ahmed Choudhury
Comments
Welcome to the table
I am glad you enjoyed your meal. And may you and others eat, and eat (VERY) well!
Darren Bunton
Realized the Hunger...
Thanks Dear Darren...:)... That day, I realized the feeling of hunger the millions of starving people around the world experience everyday... I wish everyone could have access to stable and healthy supplies of food....
---Peace--
Tanzina
It's the little experiences
It's the little experiences in life that make us better human beings.
Jency
Learning from the City Life...
Yes Jency....the city has just started to teach me how you do not feel lonely even though your family is thousand miles away... because there are so many good people around.... who are there to care for you without the expectation for any return....:)
---- Learning from the City Life....
Tanzina.....
Thanks for sharing this.....
This is so beautiful, how I wish we alll can be close to one another, irrespective of status, creed or race. We are one.
Olutosin Oladosu Adebowale
Kanthari 2013 Set
Global Change Leader (COADY 2013)
Founder/Project Coordinator
Star of Hope Transformation Centre
512 Road
F Close
Festac Town
Lagos-Nigeria
https://www.facebook.com/olu
Yes.... we are one.... and we all have to realize this...
Dear Olutosin....
Though we say that racism doesn't exist now but still, at some points, we have an inner racist feel in different ways which, I realized, can only be overcome with all of us coming closer to each other, of course, irrespective of status, creed, and race....Yes, we are one and we all have to realize this....:)
In Friendship--
Tanzina...:)