At a time when our society is facing increasing cynicism and moral turpitude, I recently experienced an inspiring act of honesty on a visit to Agra with my family recently. I went to see the Taj Mahal. We hired an auto-rickshaw to go to Agra Fort and while alighting we forgot our bag containing some valuables along with memorable pictures of Taj Mahal.
Much to our consternation, we realised our mistake and by that time the three-wheeler had vanished in the thick traffic. I immediately set out in search of that auto with the help of another auto-driver who was standing where we had got down. Though I distinctly remembered the face of the first auto driver, I had not noticed the registration number. We searched in vain for half an hour and came back feeling dejected and confused as to what to do next. I was more worried about those pictures than the other items kept in the bag. Having no hope to recover my bag, I immediately called the photographer who had clicked those photos and provided the prints not to delete them and requested him to provide fresh prints. Fortunately he had not deleted those from his camera and I heaved a great sense of relief while hoping that my lost bag would be recovered!
As we were regretting our mistake for not being careful and thinking about those beautiful pictures, after almost 45 minutes, to my great surprise and joy, the driver of the first auto-rickshaw came with the bag sporting a smile on his face, and humbly handed over the same. Our joy knew no bounds.
When I appreciated the auto-driver for his inspiring act of honesty, suitably rewarded him and clicked a photograph with him, he felt very happy, accepted the reward with all humility. He made a profound comment: 'God is watching all of us. If we are honest, He will shower upon us His bounty and unlimited blessings.'
I think we all need to take his comment seriously, coming as it does from someone whom we consider socially insignificant. We came back to Delhi from Taj Mahal not only with wonderful memories but also learnt a great lesson from that honest auto-driver. It strengthened our belief in human goodness.