"Beta, do you want a bottle of water? It's sealed."

"Beta, do you want a bottle of water? It's sealed."

...said a senior lady (might be in her 70s I guessed). "No, thank you" I said, a bit confused.

Friday evening I happened to ping Sanjay Gopalakrishnan ( in case you read about my recent post on carpool, Sanjay was the first person I approached checking if he wanted to pool with me... and that's how it all started) when I saw he had passes for a musical event nearby. Things worked out and I took my mom for the event today morning (a wonderful bunch of singers belting out melodies of Lata Mangeshkar).

It was then after a break for refreshments that I returned to my seat and this lady came to me asking if I wanted to buy a bottle of water. She clearly was from a good background, I could see, the way she was conducting herself and conversing in polished English with everyone around. "Why would such a person sell water bottles - that too at such a place...." I pondered.. a couple of mins passed and as I was observing her approach others there, she again came back to ask Sanjay (who had just returned next to me) asking if he would want to buy a bottle. He also seemed confused and politely declined. She might have spotted our curiosity and that's when the lady smiled and said... "no issues, I am selling these bottles for a 85 year old poor lady that I know who has no source of income. The proceeds from these sales go in supporting her..." On hearing this immediately Sanjay and I asked her to give us a bottle each. "How much do we pay for this?" asked Sanjay curiously.. "whatever you wish to.." she replied. I and Sanjay immediately knew these bottles of water deserved much much higher value than the printed mrp and so we dug into our wallets and handed over some colorful pieces of paper that would hopefully bring some colorful smiles to a face we had never seen... Hats off to this particular ma'm who was doing her bit going around selling water bottles to complete strangers with a smile on her face with such selflessness.

About the event, it was an absolute joy watching so many senior citizens enjoying the melodies and repeatedly getting up from their seats to shake a leg coz they just could not contain their enthusiasm and expressed their joy without any qualms.. Nothing soothes the mind as much as the universal language of songs and music.

Thank you Sanjay ( and the organizers "Soulful Saturdays" ) for the wonderful experience and for those who do not know Sanjay, he is a brilliant singer himself - if you know him, be sure to watch him perform live someday if you havent already!

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