In the unlikeliest of places...

... one meets another human being that reminds us of what humanity is. Whether it's Pepe in Sicily November last year, Sami in Riyadh in February this year or just earlier today Ranjan in Mumbai, these common folk, taxi drivers to be precise, bear the pressures of life with uncommon grace. Maybe it's a tool of their trade but there was a gentleness about them, a word Pepe used to describe us when he was driving us around and which also aptly describes him! and Sami and Ranjan. 

From Pepe, I learned his insightful read of the individual. With Sami, his culture of Pashtunwali. And today after 6 hours with Ranjan from Tamilnadu with 90 year old dad, mum recently passed, wife and two grown kids, I learnt that even the poor can have dignity. I treated him to dinner at an awarded Italian cafe. It was interesting to see all the middle class Indians eyeing us with suspicion, even the waiters. I didn't care nor did he as he partook of his first even Italian meal, a spaghetti duck carbonara no less.

I trust he is happy today