Lessons from Kaju Singh

One look at Kaju Singh will bring the memories of an anonymous Bihari villain from any Hindi movie. About 5ft 10, dark, overweight, with a ‘tilak’ on his forehead that makes him look all the more villainous, dressed in a Red T-shirt and a jacket that was white once upon a time and selling tea outside Dhanbaad railway station, one look at him and you would say, a very uninspiring individual!
That’s what I thought when I walked into his shop one chilly January night, a few days back. It was about 1 in the morning and I was waiting for another train which, not surprisingly, was late! (I can never understand why the trains get delayed when you are all alone, making the wait seem even longer!)
I walked out of the station, hoping to eat something and stumbled upon this tea shop. A VCD player and a TV set blaring out the songs from the forgotten movie “Aashiqi” and a bunch of people spending time watching that, the cheap Chinese miniature lights doing what they do best- irritate, I stepped near the stove to heat up and asked for a cup of tea.
While I waited for my cup of tea, my gaze shifted from the TV set to the signboard at the top of the shop’s door. It was not the name of the tea stall, to my surprise, it read in Hindi: “Stay away from AIDS. Only awareness can stop the epidemic. For free condoms, contact Kaju Singh” I couldn’t help a smile, the idea of vending condoms at a tea shop was a novel one!
Then I looked at the back wall, and it was full of framed certificates which sang praises for the community service that Kaju Singh had done. They spoke of his contribution in spreading AIDS awareness and I saw that he had worked in all day long camps! And I looked at him going about his business! The kid who works in his shop fumbled and broke two glasses. He just bent down, picked up the pieces and threw them away.
I just stood there, watching him go about his job as if nothing had happened!
Many of us who have donated blood make sure that it appears in our CVs and forms that we fill, and here is this guy, letting go of a day’s income many a times to work in spreading awareness!
We argue with the taxiwalas to save 10 bucks, and this guy lost Rs10 because of someone else’s fault and was still unruffled!
And I am the ‘educated’ one! I wondered, how much have I lost to education and greed?

That night, when I paid for my tea, I said ‘thank you’. I walked back, humbled, and with a lump in my throat.
May be, we all can learn from Kaju Singh.

And yes, he is a Bihari, one of the many whom Raj Thackrey hates!