A Feeling of Joy

It's a long time since I felt the delirious exhilaration of a joyous moment. Not to say that I've had no moments of joy, but none that have swept me up and away.

I remember a moment like that from before.

I had just received my tenth standard results over phone. To say I was very happy is perhaps an understatement. I had exceeded my own expectations, and the icing on the cake was that I had bested both my sisters' records, which was no mean achievement considering my immediate sibling was a consistent topper.

I was now on my way to school to collect the marks sheet. As I travelled by bus, I couldn't help smiling every now and then to myself. It was a sweet feeling indeed - the first milestone of my budding life.

I got down at the bus-stop and began walking towards my school. As I went along, I saw an old lady walking before me. Rather, she was staggering under the heavy load she was carrying. She had at least a couple of parcels in her hands, along with her handbag, and then what seemed to be a very heavy bag, hung from her arm, almost tilting her with its weight. Every now and then, she would stop, readjust her burden, and stagger along a few more steps.

Now, I'm the sort of person who takes the don't-talk-to-strangers far more seriously than intended. Being extremely shy, self-conscious, and diffident, it was entirely uncharacteristic of me to approach any one I knew, let alone a complete stranger. Even when good deeds shone from a mile away, with a neon sign strapped around them, shouting "Do Me", I would scoot exactly in the opposite direction. This left me with many lost opportunities to accumulate some plus points in my punya deposit.

However, on this day, it was quite different. I was so bursting with happiness, that all my inhibitions seemed to have evaporated.

I walked right up to her, and said, "Excuse me, ma'am, can I help you with the bag?"

She looked at me like I was a miracle.

I took up the bag, and plodded alongside her at a sedate pace, till we reached the point where she wanted the bag dropped off.

"Thank you, and bless you, my child", she smiled.

I literally skipped all the way to school. It was as if I was as light as a feather and the wind could just scoop me up and whirl me around. The "God's-in-his-heaven-and-all's-right-with-the-world" feeling totally overwhelmed me.

Perhaps it's just the memory that gets exaggerated over time, but I'd really love to feel like that again. It was truly refreshing.