I’m going to Applebees!”
“I’m going to get myself a hot meal.”
He said this as he smiled.
It was a half-edentulous smile, but the happiest one I had seen in a long while.
I had met him about 10 days ago, while I was traveling to Bangalore.
He’d asked for some money as I was coming out of a grocery store.
I’d only had a 50 rupees in my wallet, so I gladly parted with it.
He’d said he wanted to go the Dollar Store and buy some food.
I’d felt sad as I watched him walk away.
I went to the ATM, withdrew 500 rupees, tracked him down in the Dollar store, pretended to shake his hand, and gave him the money.
I watched him slowly get the bill out of his hand, and stretch them out, incredulous.
He gave me a hug.
He hadn’t had any hot food in days.
We exchanged a fist bump.
“Pay it forward,” I said.
He nodded and smiled.
He followed me to my car. He had a lot to say. It was clear that no one had listened to him in a long time.
He talked about life, about India, about Modi
He thanked me a million times.
We said goodbye a million times.
Then we finally went each our way, and he disappeared into the night.