The Kındness of Strangers

Readers share life-altering encounters with Good Samaritans. Here are 11 stories that restored our faith in humanity.

THE BODYGUARD

Sudden, unseasonal rain was pouring down on Mumbai. I was in the seventh month of my pregnancy and had to attend college to conduct the final-year exams. Dadar station, on the suburban line, was sunk in slush and filth, with a stampede of commuters.

I climbed on to the bridge leading to the platform. Worried that I would slip, I gripped the railing with both my hands and held on against the rough, jostling crowds. I was worried my baby would be hurt.

Suddenly, I found a pair of strong arms wrapped around me. At first, I regarded the young man with mistrust but he had already formed a protective shield around my shoulders and was leading me ahead slowly. His body formed a barrier between me and the sea of people around. He helped me coast along the railing, down the stairs and to the platform where the ladies’ coach had arrived. I turned to thank this angel but before I could see his face he had melted into the crowd.

BRINDA UPADHYAYA, Mumbai

THE BOY WHO CARED Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, a renowned facility in Hyderabad, treats poor farmers from the surrounding villages. Many of the underprivileged patients, often aged and weak, are left there to fend for themselves.

Three years ago on a visit, I noticed the particularly dismal post-operative cataract ward. As the anaesthesia wears off, howls of pain and agony fill the place. Nurses try to comfort patients and offer them sleeping pills. They doze off, forgetting their lunch. In the evening relatives of the better off come with milk and bread, the staple diet for cataract patients.

Enter Shareef, the ward boy. He jumps in to help old patients to the toilet. It’s not his job, but he collects leftover milk and bread after the relatives have left and redistributes it to the poor, who have had nothing to eat.

Shareef is a ray of hope in a world of darkness.