It was 8 a.m. Juanita opened her eyes slowly. After ages, this was the first time that she got up without the thought of what to do for the day, what to cook, what will go in the lunch box–nothing! Her mind was in a state of in bliss. Forever, she used to wonder if such a day would come, and here it was finally! She tossed in bed and casually looked into her phone. Vijay had called several times. “Oops!” She called him back and apologized.
“Sorry Vijay, I overslept.”
“Ma’am, why should you say sorry. It’s my duty to report to work in the morning. So I called. Whatever you plan is ok for me.”
“Did you have breakfast, Vijay?”
“Not yet, ma’am.”
“OK, give me 20 minutes. I’ll get ready and come down. Let’s go for breakfast.”
“Sure, ma’am.”
Having been a driver for about 20 years, Vijay managed to speak a bit of all languages, though he was most comfortable in Tamil. And Juanita knew all languages but Tamil. She spoke some broken Tamil, which was largely Malayalam. But Vijay understood her well. “Strange,” thought Juanita as she was sitting in the tub. Sometimes, we speak so much, and the other person cannot get us at all. And yet, here was Vijay; even if you didn’t tell him anything, he would understand everything. Sometimes, it felt like he was reading the mind! Scary!”
Juanita got dressed and went down. Vijay was giving final touches to the car cleaning. When he saw her coming down the steps, he smiled, opened the door, closed it behind her, and settled down at the wheel. Juanita asked her if he had slept well. He nodded and tried to avoid, talking instead about the places to see, and he was almost planning for her. She could see him looking at her from the mirror and caught his eye. Just then Vijay looked away. They came to a cafe and stopped. Juanita asked Vijay to accompany her, but he didn’t feel comfortable. “Normally, we don’t go with our guests. It may not be appropriate.”
“I don’t know about that, Vijay. Just come. Don’t think too much.”
They went in, ordered food, and began eating. Everyone at the cafe was looking at them, and Vijay felt very uncomfortable. Juanita felt bad for him and apologized again.
“These people know I’m a driver, ma’am, and that’s why they are looking at me strangely because I’m sitting with someone like you. This is usually not taken too well, ma’am”
“It doesn’t matter, Vijay. Let’s not look at them. Let’s enjoy our breakfast.”
And after breakfast, they walked to the beach, which was close by and sat for sometime. It’s so relaxing when you have no plans for the day! Just enjoy the moment and do things at your pace. There is no pressure of pleasing anyone, no need to hurry, and no need to slow down. Was she dreaming? Vijay was looking at her, lost in thoughts. He didn’t say a word; he understood her need for “space.” And when Juanita signaled it was time to go, they left.
They had lunch and went shopping because the temples were closed in the afternoon. Vijay was an expert in help with shopping. They bought loads of stuff and laughed and laughed; Vijay had a bag full of jokes. Gosh! when was the last time Juanita ever laughed so much that it hurt? Evening was temple time. And then, after dinner, they went back to the beach again. They sat a little away from the crowd and opened their bag of stories about each other–their life, their work, their family–and before they realized, it was 1 a.m. Juanita had never felt so happy with anyone like this before. Here was a new friendship blossoming. Vijay was simple, practical, and hard-working. He gave her many tips on how to handle pressure and motivated her to live each day to the fullest!
“If ever you feel sad, ma’am, call me. I’ll change your mood. Life is too short to mull over what is there. Do what your heart tells you and always be happy.”
There was a lot to learn from Vijay. There are so many people who cross our paths each day; some we ignore and some we deliberately choose. Those we ignore can also give us enough nuggets of wisdom for everyday living. We must keep our eyes, ears and minds open. As they walked back to the hotel past 1 a.m, Juanita was already feeling like a different person. She felt lighter and thanked the universe for this trip. Sometimes, destiny makes you meet the right people at the right time. Because you need to hear them out to move ahead smoothly in your life journey. Now was Vijay’s time. But unlike the other men who walked in and out of Juanita’s life, Vijay was not romantically inclined towards her. He just helped everyone in need in whichever little way he could. How many men don’t take advantage of vulnerable women like this?
As Juanita went to bed that night, she felt immense respect for Vijay and looked forward to another day with this amazing human.
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