All the people: Jerry, an angel out of nowhere!

As a child, my oldest memories go back to me testing a shiny new pen on the collared and squiggled pad at neighborhood library and writing neatly in an upward angle and in a front slant perfectly practiced cursive writing ... all the people. I don't know why but I did always write that phrase to test any new writing instrument. As I grew older I would think back and reflect at my wonder years and that phrase would always come to my mind ... I cant seem to trace back to the memory of why I wrote the phrase but I do know that from my youngest times all the people around me mattered ... I wanted them to like me ... and it mattered a lot to me that ALL THE PEOPLE liked me ... and so the bubbly smiley me never denied an onlooker (sometimes even a rank stranger) a smile, or a friend a warm smiley hiiiii! To this date people matter to me and now that I am older I would like to have the thought or the power or the money to make a difference to all the peoples lives...

Thru my life I would have met thousands of people that I have personally interacted with and liked so much ... family, friends, colleagues, business associates, strangers and it is amazing how some people remain close to your heart even though the interaction may have been the briefest as a part of them has remained with me and made me what I am today.

One such person was JERRY ... it was a dark, stormy night as I drove back from work in my good old Matiz feeling not unlike a sardine, packed in the typical end-of-day grotesque traffic snarl of Mumbai ... listening and singing along with mukesh' lilting songs on the stereo and just as I was at a high note, the car reached the top end of the incline on the Andheri flyover and I pumped the clutch n break for the nth time in the inching homeward journey, my car came to a sudden grinding halt!@#$% ... I turned the ignition several times but to no avail ... this cant be happening to me yaar!?! Desperate honking of the cars behind me deafened my ears ... HONK HONK ... %$#@^ HONK HONK ... cars drove past me as I desperately tried all my tactics to revive the engine but as luck would have it my car was stone dead!!! I pulled the hand brake and stepped out of the car into the rain and apologetically waved my hand to fellow sufferers cursing and shaking their heads at me as they sped off on their ways ... I thought hard about how to get out of the situation!? I really didn't know what to do ... I got back into the car and tried to get through to my husband who said that if I could push the car to the side somehow and just leave it there with the emergency lights on we could deal with it later ... it was impossible for me to push the car in this traffic with cars not leaving an inch of space for me to budge + I just didn't have the strength or the skill to manouever the car in the rain at the top of an incline ... Oh God help me please ... Knock knock on my window ... there was someone knocking for me to open ... as I brought the glass down a young boy about the age of 21-22 (I was closing 40 at this time), "Hi my name is Jerry ... I guess you need some help - please put your car in the neutral gear so I can push you to the side" ... There is a God!!! I mutely followed instructions and soon I was successfully pushed to the side of the road ... he then said, "if its okay with you will you let me try to start your car -- you sit in the passenger seat" a thought crossed, 'Should I trust him? Shut up woman ... you dont have a choice' so I moved over and he jumped in and tried his best ... no luck again! He then said, "Wait here I will organise some help for you". Before I could say 'thanks for trying to help' he was speeding down the maze of vehicles ... and I stood outside getting wet craning my neck over the traffic to keep sight of him ... as passersby looked my way ...'tsk tsk ... bechari ... kya hua Madam' ... some gave knowing smiles - but none of them stopped to help! 10 minutes passed and I gave up. I locked the car, took out the deck, car papers and slung my bag to trudge down the hill, 'I guess now that the car is parked on the side we can pick it up in the morning ... ' just then I saw my friend in need rushing up towards me ... he had a mechanic with him who opened the car and said, 'madam battery bilkul gayela hai aapka'. Meanwhile Jerry had disappeared again ... I then saw that a car was reversing up the drive ... it was Jerry! He had parked his car ahead when he saw me stranded and had run back to help me out. He then tied my car' bumper to his car and took the drivers seat while the mechanic drove his car as he towed us all the way down the hill to Juhu Galli. By this time my husband had also arrived. He negotiated with the mechanic and thanked Jerry profusely, But Jerry was not at the end of his angelic self. He then towed us all the way home. I was smitten by his sheer nicety - what a truly wonderful angel he was! I took his number and the next morning I thanked him again. 
Some months later my mobile got lost and with that I lost Jerry' number too; forever. But he has left a huge impression on my life and I often think of him and say a silent prayer that he is well and happy - it does matter to me still that he is well and happy. So saying cheers to your life Jerry and it is because of the people like you that this world is still a beautiful place.