Some time back I wrote about a discovery of a question that “What is a perfect weekend?”. At that time I discovered one aspect of it and this time I witnessed another one, which was absolutely mindblowing.

The weekend started with working in lab and getting all excited about my work. I had lots of idea which I will test out to find results. I thought about incorporating universe simulation data in Amit and my work on augmented nodetrix, showcasing halo catalogs as dense networks based on their certain properties and further study them through our matrix visualization.

Then I got to spent the most awesome time with great friends. The best part - you get to eat lots of extremely good dishes when you have newly married friends. I guess they want to showcase their skills in cooking too :P. But they don’t know that the more they play hosts, more we feel as guests. Anyway I am extremely lucky to meet regularly and enjoy the delicacies prepared by them.

The next part is something which I know I will never forget. I was at Bangalore Central Mall near Jayadeva, catching up with a friend in Mc Donalds. Suddenly two kids of age probably 13 years came and asked for Rs. 10/- as donation towards Ganpati celebration in their locality. As all of us, my first reaction to neglect and asked them to go away.

Five minutes later another another group of 3 kids, same age, came and asked for the same. This time I don’t know what struck in my mind, I took them outside and started asking them lots of questions - “Do you guys study?, Which standard? Subjects? What after class X? What they do in Ganpati celebration? How it benefits them? etc..”. I donated my share to first group and asked them whether they would like to have dosa, to which they happily agreed.

So just outside Central Mall, there we were, 6 kids, Manjunath, Chand, Mallesh, Anil and two other names I couldn’t remember, having dosa and having wonderful time. I realized that these kids are happy in each other’s company, without complaining of their background. One of them lost his father and his mother works everyday as house keeping staff. Suddenly I noticed he was barefoot. I took a quick glance and observed another kid was also barefoot. I asked them would they like it, if I give them a pair of slippers, to which they happily agreed.

By now my friend Ankita also joined and became a part of our wonderful circle. So after finishing dosa, we went inside mall, searched for a nice pair of slippers and gave it to them.

To be very honest, this was something I have never witnessed. I would explain how. All of us know how people form opinions, judging through appearance (and it’s not their fault). The lady at entrance of mall first refused to let the kids enter. I persuaded that they were with me. As soon as I entered I felt scared - what if they steal something? So I turned back and saw them and believe me it was wonderful. Their body language gave me answer that I can trust them blindfold. Two were holding each other as they were very scared by thinking that the mall is so rich, people have so money and they will be somehow harmed. Three were inquisitive. They found the place to be awesome and wanted to know more, but still they held each other to ensure no one is lost in this “alien” world. I like the sixth one. He was not afraid of anything and confident to explore.

From this point I didn’t had any doubts. We searched for the place where they kept slippers. The salesman was very kind to help up find the right size. I was continuously surprised by these guys. The same guy who lost his father, was so well mannered that he insisted that he should carry slippers to the billing counter and not us. I am unable to write that scenario better in words, but his empotion was of respect towards us.

We paid the bill, gave slippers to my wonderful, little friends and came outside mall. They were inquisitive in knowing about us. So they reciprocated my questions and asked me about my name, home town and what I do for a living. When we came out I told them this - “Don’t be astonished by the glamour you see in this mall. You guys can achieve much more than the people you see around now. Just promise to do two things for me - One, to never leave studies and regularly attend school. Second, never do a wrong deed.” We all hailed to that and said good bye. I will never forget the delight I saw in the eyes of my special and newest friends.

Me and Ankita agreed on spliting the bill, so that we both can share the happiness we felt today!!!