The More You Give, the More They Want

Yesterday morning while I was travelling from Chromepet to Guindy by the suburban train, I saw an aged woman sitting opposite to me with a smile on her face. She looked fresh and cheerful in spite of her age and a frail figure. A middle aged woman came near to the old lady and waved her hand at the old woman, to move and let her some space to sit. Its a very common practice among the lady commuters to look for some space at the end of the 3-seated bench to rest their back for some time after toiling in the kitchen at home in the morning. The aged woman was very happy to move and let the middle aged woman to sit.This middle aged woman was wearing a pink saree, so lets call her "Pinky", hereafter.

Its quite common among women folks to have their breakfast on their way to work, whichever modes of transport they use. Some of the office going young girls, make it a point to carry their kitty bags along with them to apply make up, tie their hair etc etc. Some religious minded women sing devotional songs together. Some read slokas aloud.

After settling herself, Pinky opened her food box.The contents fell on to her lap and left stains on her pink color saree. The older woman felt sorry for Pinky. She turned towards the young girl who was sitting next to her and asked her to lend a paper. The girl immediately tore a paper from the long size notebook that she was carrying and gave it to Pinky. There was no 'Thanks' from Pinky. She tore a piece of paper from the corner of the long size sheet and wiped the dots from her saree, spread the sheet and had her breakfast without any disturbance. I could sense Pinky's satisfaction on her face after she emptied the food box. 

Pinky turned towards the aged woman and asked her whether she had water. The aged woman opened her bag and pulled out a bottle of water and said,"Hot Water" and was about to put it back inside her lunch bag. Pinky said,"Can I have some water?". The lady had no other option than to hand over the water bottle to Pinky. Pinky drank some water and poured some water on her hands into the food box to wash her hands. Half of the bottle is empty now. The old woman watched this, but didn't utter a word except a smile. She should have seen more people like Pinky in her life time. Believe me, I felt bad for the old lady and angry at Pinky. Pinky returned the water bottle to the old lady. No 'Thanks' this time too.

I was wondering how can Pinky expect some one else to carry water for her. Isn't it her responsibility to bring water to drink and wash her hands, when she decided to have her breakfast in a public place? I guess Pinky read my mind. She told to the other person who was sitting opposite to her,"There is enough water in our office. So, I don't take the pain to carry it along with my other bags."