It was Christmas Eve, the streets were festooned with colored
streamers, stars and other ornaments. Work was slow Amal and Rumi chose to take
time off to collect some medical reports from the hospital before the
celebrations began.
They arrived early only to find a long line had snaked its
way out from the waiting hall to the long corridor. Barely had they managed to
squeeze a place on the bench when Amal felt a hand on his shoulder. His first
thought was that he wouldn’t give up his place but it was a woman’s voice, “I
need to go out urgently for a few minutes.”
The woman disappeared thrusting a soft bundle in his lap. It
was an infant who beamed back with a beatific smile. Amal prodded Rumi, “I‘ve
been left holding a baby.” Rumi looked around nervously, “Where is this woman.
We need to return the baby. You know how suspicious people are and will imagine
we are kidnappers.”
“Calm down. You always
imagine the worst? After all it’s her baby.”
Rumi got up and
started scanning the room before there could be any trouble. Their names had
been called and Amal transferred the bundle to Rumi and rushed to meet the
doctor.
By then the crowds had thinned but the woman was still
nowhere around. “The baby has to be returned to some responsible authority,”
urged Rumi. Amal realized the gravity of the situation and walked towards one
of the hospital staff manning the gates.
The guard was
suspicious as soon as he heard that they were not the caregivers. “This is a
serious matter not to be taken lightly at all. You should go immediately to the
help desk at the main office.”
The office was
overcrowded there were people milling around the desks and outshouting one
another. Confused by the turn of events Amal didn’t know exactly whom to
approach. Finally he found an empty space in front of one of the desks and
asked hesitantly. “A woman asked me to mind her baby for a bit but she hasn’t
returned. Where should we deposit the baby?”
The man at the desk was taken aback, “What made you do this? Are
you in your right mind? The police can
take you in to custody. You look educated, haven’t you read messages warning
people not to accept anything from strangers?”
Rumi replied crossly, “This is a baby and not a package. It
was shoved in to our lap.”
“We aren’t equipped to deal with such matters. There is a
police station outside the gates and it would be advisable to report at the
earliest.”
The infant who had been sleeping blissfully unaware about all
the confusion it had caused decided to wake up and announce its presence with a
shrill cry that pierced through the surrounding din. All conversation was
temporarily silenced. Red in the face, Rumi struggled with the infant that had
changed to a wriggly and noisy creature. One of the by standers advised them, “Go
to the children’s ward. The nurses there may be of help. Most probably the
child is hungry.”
Unable to calm the
baby, they ran towards the hospital and hoped to leave it with some responsible
authority.
Amal admitted “What if the police are suspicious and lock us
up?” In a hurry and breathless they almost collided with a woman who stood
midway on the steps. She took the weeping infant and held on to Amal’s hand.
“Where did you disappear?”
“What do you mean? You are the one who vanished without a
word.”
“I didn’t think I would
be gone for so long and it would be close to feeding time.”
Rumi prodded Amal, “Time to go. We have had enough drama for
one day.”
The woman looked sheepish and sounded apologetic, “Don’t get
angry. I didn’t realize that it would take so long to meet the doctor. I was
running late and had to ask my husband to take my niece for the Christmas play.
He has a fruit stall near the gate but wasn’t there. All this took more time
than expected and I was delayed.”
Rumi was surprised by the woman’s reaction, “How did you
choose to leave your child with us? The baby could be missing and lost forever?”
“True I took a chance as you looked honest and decent not
people with evil intentions.”
Amal’s confidence in
his fellow beings people was restored. In her hour of need, the woman hadn’t
doubted the innate goodness of those around her. Mother and child were united
and the baby nursed in silent contentment.
They hurried down the stairs and walked towards the parking
area. Rumi heard a child’s cries that sounded familiar and it was the woman
trying to balance a heavy bag and the infant.
She looked over her shoulder, Much against her better sense, she glanced
over her shoulder and saw the woman flustered and smiling weakly.
Rumi asked, “Should we
give her a lift up to the gate?”
“Are you sure she won’t saddle us with that shrieking
creature?”
Rumi turned around and signaled and the woman was quick to
follow. “We can drop you up to the gate as it is a long walk from here.” The woman climbed in with her bag and
belongings and as they neared the exit she interrupted, “I have to go to the
building next to the church across the road. The traffic is heavy and it would
help if you could drop me there.”
“You are not shy to ask are you?” said Rumi.
“It isn’t really far
away and you offered me a lift. My son has been selected to play the role of
infant Jesu. My niece is one of the angels.
If you take me to the church hall then you can also watch the play.”
Rumi couldn’t get over the mother’s laid back attitude but
Amal readily accepted the invitation. Rumi wasn’t keen but Amal stopped her
midway. “May be it is her way of being contrite. It is Christmas Eve and the
season for goodwill and peace. In any case we are late and another few minutes
won’t make much difference.”
They entered the hall and the curtains opened on to a
nativity scene and before long the infant started to cry. There was some
confusion on the stage but a substitute was most probably being arranged.
Rumi whispered,” It is
a sign from heaven asking us to leave.”
Amal sighed, “We were
lucky that nothing untoward happened or we could have been in big trouble.”
”Did you learn a lesson? You must learn to be mindful. I
guess you have realized that we escaped without any damage.”
Amal smiled quietly and was happy that random acts of
kindness didn’t necessarily end in disaster
While on their way home Amal mentioned,” We got so caught up
in all that rigmarole that we forgot to look at the test reports.”
“I did and now it is
our turn to announce and celebrate.”
