WHO SAID CHIVALRY WAS DEAD ?

WHO SAID CHIVALRY WAS DEAD?

My wife Saroj, while driving from Nadi to Lautoka Teachers’ College had seen many acts of chivalry on the road. She used to tell me stories she heard from her women friends, who were stranded on the roadside with flat batteries, punctured tyres or without petrol and were kindly rescued by kind gentlemen who were total strangers.

Saroj told me about strangers who went out of their way to return lost wallets, cell phones, credit cards and even cash. One of her friends once accidentally tipped the driver with a $50 note thinking that she was handing him $5. The driver, knowing that it had to be a mistake, followed her and returned the money.

Once Saroj and her friend Seini ordered their usual tea and some cakes from a new café only to discover that they had left their wallets in their car that was in the parking lot. The cashier simply told them to pay on their next visit, not knowing if he would ever see them again but they returned the money later the same day.

Sometimes a little trust goes a long way. Saroj used to visit schools as a senior lecturer to inspect the work of her students on teaching practice. Her handbag used to contain several vital documents, along with her cash and other important items. One day she accidentally left her handbag in the supermarket and drove away.

When Saroj arrived home and discovered that her handbag was missing, she was heartsick but a message was waiting on the answering machine of her home phone. A boy had found the handbag and used the address in it to leave a message to collect the handbag from the given address.

Saroj said she tried hard to get him to accept a reward but he politely refused by saying, “I am just going to sleep better, knowing that I did what I should have done.”

One of Saroj’s favourite stories shows a contagious nature of kindness at the waiting room of an emergency department of the hospital. While she was waiting there for her turn, a mother with two very young children walked in. The mother was trying frantically and unsuccessfully to occupy the fussy children.

Another mother of a toddler began to feel for her and when her number was called, she turned and handed it to the young mother. It was as if a winning lottery ticket was offered to her. She thanked the giver of the ticket repeatedly and this made the mother of the toddler feel really good.

The best part according to Saroj was yet to come. The mother of the toddler settled in to wait another hour for her turn when a young man whose number had just been called turned to her and said, “Go ahead.”

“This once again proved that one good deed deserves another,” concluded Saroj.