The Kindness

The kindness of strangers has touched me repeatedly in the many years I8217;ve spent in this city. I still remember the cabbie who brought me a cup of tea, as I wept distraught after I had lost my first job. Hesoothingly talked of better tomorrows, and the wonderful future that awaited me, until I half believed him. He was right.

It is to another cabbie I owe salvation after one of the most terrifying experiences in my life. Zee TV was about to launch, we all were working flat out. After doing 72 hours without sleep, I stumbled out of office to catch a bus back to the hostel. Standing at the bus stop, I was suddenly seized with chest pains. In a haze of agony I climbed aboard the first bus that stopped.

Dazed, unable to breathe or think, I stumbled off again a little while later, and found myself in a strange raucous world. There was loud music, and crowded streets, and numbers above each chawl-like building. And there were men as far as the eye could see. Garishly painted women hung out of windows, laughing. I was in one of the areas of Grant Road that women had better never be in.

Especially past 12 at night. Men leered, grabbed, laughed and desperately I fought my way through, not knowing where I wasgoing or what was going to happen to me. Through the haze, I focused on a cabbie. He was yelling at me to get in. I got in, not realising that even that was a risk. I kept telling him I had no money for a cab. All he asked was where I wanted to go. He dropped me at the hostel and disappeared. I never paid that fare. God knows what that stranger saved me from.

From friends and colleagues, there are kindnesses too many to recount. Teji who gave up a weekend with his fiancee to sort out the mess I had made of an edit. Manu who stole stock shots so that I would stay within budget. Vivian who slipped chocolates under my pillow whenever I worked late. Veena who saved up for three whole days to be able to buy me a celebratory Thums up when I got a new job. Nona who woke up at the strangest hours of the night to offer comfort and solace and never complained. The landlord who threw in a cupboard, fridge and washing machine for free without being asked.

I am writing this because in the last few weeks I have beenoverwhelmed with kindnesses. It all started with disaster. After three months of working on a project, I was finally off to Kolhapur to shoot. On the morning we were to leave, the producer decided he didn8217;t want to do it. There was a crew of 45, a cast of five, everything booked, and no money. At which point I promised myself I was going to do this shoot even if it killed me. And damn the producer! I picked up the phone to all good friends and well wishers 8212; and I haven8217;t recovered yet.

The telephone at Manoj8217;s house was cut off because he wasn8217;t able to pay the bill. He turned up half an hour later with Rs 11,000. We8217;d asked for Rs 10,000 the balance was shagun8217;. Devika broke a fixed deposit. Dominic emptied his bank account. Allan paid in advance for work yet to be done. A dear friend wined and dined a man she had been avoiding for years and coaxed a loan out of him. An actor offered to lend us money. Five days later we were off to shoot.

Ever since, the wave of goodwill just hasn8217;t stopped. Theeditor has refused to talk money. Amit, the guy doing very expensive graphics, just laughs and says, Pay me five hundred bucks.8217; Kishoreji who provided equipment, didn8217;t ask for a single rupee in advance. Dev, the cameraman, worked so hard he only had time for one meal in four days. Jay spent three weeks figuring out how to make fake blood flow out of a diya. Yatin not only gave up his actor8217;s fees, but doubled as assistant, friend, philosopher and tape carrier. It8217;s unbelievable! I8217;m left feeling grateful and very humble.

What can I say? Thank you!

They tell you this city is hard. They tell you nobody cares. They tell you that you8217;ll never find a true friend in Bombay. They tell you to beware of strangers. I tell you Don8217;t believe them!

Venita Coelho is a television script writer.