And thereby hangs a tale (of shame...)

Today as I stepped out of my office I gazed at the overcast skies. Its going to rain soon, I thought, time to hail the monstrous, yellow-n-black three wheeler and head home.Hiked fares or not, these rumbling monstrosities are still in demand. Impatiently I tapped my foot, waiting for the never ending trail of cars to halt so that I could quickly cross the road.
Yippee! after a few dirty snarls, frantic waving of my hands, and finally risking my life i finally managed to cross the road, and am still intact..yes I can still move my limbs..no nothing hurts. Great. Now challenge number 2. Finding an auto. Clutching my customary jhola and trademark umbrella, I geared up to fight for an auto. As I waited I scanned my fellow-competitors. Hmmm...A spectacled guy...obviously too timid to fight for an auto...whoa! did I just see him get into an auto...well clearly a case of luck taking over looks, deceptive as the latter are! Competitor 2 - A woman who kept giving me dirty looks. i could imagine the wheels of her brain turning thinking "well well, do we have another contender now". Our eyes locked. She gave a quite snarl, I twisted my lips in disgust a la balaji teleproductions' vamp. Well it was battle time. The lines were drawn. Competitor no 3 - A man with boxes of grapes (in this season???) clearly he would not run for an auto so I had to rule him out. Yes...competitor 4 - an aggressive bearded chap, who I felt will stop an auto even if it means falling in front of the hurtling beast. 'Rickshhhhhhaaaaaaawwwww' we all yelled, only to be snubbed royally.
As I fought and clawed, my gaze fell upon an old man. Frail, clutching a walking stick, there was a pleading look in his eyes. I went down the memory lane and recalled a scene wherein an old lady wanted to cross the road. Too hesitant to ask she pleaded silently with her eyes. I did not say anything and quietly held out my hand. She took it gratefully, and together we croseed the road. A horn broke me out of my reverie and suddenly my attention was back to the old man. "kahan jaana hai aapko uncle?" I was bound by duty. I had to get this man into an auto. "Khar danda" he replied in a wisp of a voice. I jumped to the rescue. As I saw the others scrambling for an auto, I could not help but feel gross disdain for all of them...especially competitor no 4. How mean! How rude! I fumed as they fought and ignored the old man. I tried once, twice, the meanies just sped by.
i was getting tensed. what if it rained? What would happen to uncle? Finally I managed to stop one auto. I told him firmly"Uncle ko khar danda leke jaao." I felt somebody nudging me. I turned around to see competitor no 4. trying to jostle his way into the auto. I blocked his entrance with my arm and lashed out at him, "sharam nahi aati aapko. Itne jawan ho phir bhi ek buzurg ko auto mein jaane se rok rahe ho.kabse wait kar rahe hain. Jaane do unko." (Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You are a young man and still you are not allowing the old man to take an auto? let him go. Shame on you! To which he calmy replied, "madam, main aur uncle saath mein hai. main unke liye auto dhoondh raha tha" (Madam, the old man and i are together. i was hunting for an auto for him. With a quiet chuckle he stepped inside the auto and sped away. It took two seconds for it to sink in. My immediate reaction was to stick my tongue out and mumble an apology. I felt the halo above my head pop!
My husband always says that I have the makings of a social activist....provided I find a right cause!!!! Clearly this was a case of wasted zeal and rebellion without a cause. With this I formally hang my picture in the not-so-coveted "Hall of Shame!"