The Balloonwalah

One evening my one year old son and I stopped by at a restaurant for coffee and refreshments. Right besides our table was another family with a beautiful baby girl in the mother’s arms. Between our meal the father rose from his seat and fetched a colourful balloon for his daughter without realizing the effect it could have on my son. And how was he to blame? He was focused on making his daughter happy.

At the sight of that beautiful big red balloon my son was very excited and began jumping towards it. The baby girl began to cry so I had to leave my coffee half way and leave our table to fetch a balloon for my son too. Unfortunately by the time I’d reached outside the restaurant the Ballonwalla had already left. And there was no other balloon seller in sight.

I returned with my son a little disappointed and my son was mighty disheartened. And just as we returned to our table the little girl managed to poke a nail into the balloon and there was a big bang. Now there were two babies crying for the balloon.

I soon realized that all this commotion had an audience. A tall guy from one of the neighbouring tables was watching the scene. He rose from his seat and headed for the exit. I could see him pacing up and down the footpath of the street outside as if in search for someone. He too returned with a dejected look. The little girl’s family paid up their bill and left. Soon the tall guy and his friend left too. I remained seated, trying to coax my son into forgetting the balloon and finishing his meal but all was in vain.

I had given up! I just couldn’t make him forget the big red balloon. Kids can be so stubborn and reasoning with them is impossible at times. I was saddened that I’d failed to make my son happy. Just when I was about to request the waiter to parcel off the food so my son could finish it later at home, something happened. I saw my son had begun to giggle with happiness suddenly. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was holding a big red balloon in his hands.

I turned to see that the same tall guy had returned. And this time he had come back with a big red balloon for my son. Both their faces were aglow, my son’s and his. My little one year old had just got what he was desperately wanting. The big drops of tears had immediately stopped rolling off my son;s cheeks and wetting my shoulders. The tall guy’s face was flushed with happiness. He wasn’t looking at me or dint wait for my Thankyou’s. He shook hands with my little one and stood watching him for just a moment. I was tongue-tied at such a selfless gesture. When I began to gush with gratitude he had already turned and walked half way down the aisle, out.

I wonder how it must feel to do a random act of kindness like that and revel in that fulfilling happiness of having made some other soul happy. Without a second thought, without any expectations, without any direct benefit that tall guy had done what only an angel could have done for me at that moment. He had touched two lives in an instant.

This nameless person whose face I’ll never forget, gave me a lesson of a lifetime , to be more giving, more selfless. One random act of kindness can not only make another happy but also give you this feeling from within that life is worthwhile!

It reminds me of these beautiful words….

Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on;
'Twas not given for thee alone,
Pass it on;
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another's tears,
'Til in Heaven the deed appears -
Pass it on.

~Henry Burton, Pass It On

Comments

Kailash said…
what happened to the girl? You totally forgot about her. :D, did she get one too?
No Kailash,
I dint forget the little girl.
I have written she and her family left the restaurant. And I dont know whether she got another balloon coz I dint follow them, you see!
:D
I only know that the man did a good deed towards my son..
:))
magiceye said…
hey so good to see you back blogging after almost a month!
and what a wonderful entry too!!
love reading about these selfless random acts of kindness.. reinforces faith in the goodness of humanity!

hope to see you posting often now!
Nanka said…
That was an interesting episode.

Balloons and balloonwallas do have a knack to make children cry. LOL!!

I loved the lines "and there was a big bang. Now there were two babies crying for the balloon."

Every mother would have experienced it. I can imagine your plight.
Phoenixritu said…
Awww, how sweet of the man!
Rumya said…
Enjoyed your narration of this incident!! :)
Can well imagine 'U' in distress over the balloon ;) Must have been just like the Pav incident... LOL :D

Welcome back to Klishmaklaver!! Enjoy your light-hearted blogging...!! :) Daily 'U' incidents are more than enough to keep this blog going.. ;) Yay for that!! :D
Dusk said…
Um.... why don't I know about this blog????

Oh honey... such a beautiful story... AND random acts of kindness are in the air... and it's a butterfly effect

He did this for your son because someone somewhere did a random act of kindness for him... kindness is a tidal wave...
Haddock said…
A simple episode, but well written.
I can relate to it and how the child must have felt and how you must have felt. Incidentally a similar thing happened and coincidentally it was also related to balloon. I had written a post about it titled "The missing beak" It was written some time in Jan.
Or better still I will copy paste the link:
http://joezachs.blogspot.com/2010/01/missing-beak.html
Deepakji, 'it was in fact very kind of you to patiently coax me into picking my pen up once again..
Those motivating words Ill never forget..
You have done one good deed most definitely today!
:D
Haha Nanka,
and since you know my son well by now Im sure you could actually visualise the episode as I narrated it..LOL
And yes Rumz,
it was exactly like that 'Paavpaaaaav' wailing. Much worse if u ask..Much like the 'Coppo'incident with Mihir in fact.
Hope I dont hit a writer's slump ever again. This one was really bad.
I'll try to bring to you more of these light hearted anrrations if u say so..:D
Yeah Ritu Di, very sweet of the anonymous chap. May god bless him!
Awww Dusk,
I just never imagined you'd be interested in reading my stories, most of which are fiction.
This one was a real life incident and im happy you enjoyed it.
Yes Butterfly effect indeed!
Am just praying that I keep the ball rolling.
If I can bring a smile to a random face I will be a happier persom walking this earth..:D
That was really very sweet of that guy!! his gesture reallt touched me. Pass it on and so will I:-)
Aabha Vatsa said…
Balloons and kids have a special attachment. Not only toddlers even ones as old as 10 or 13 find glee in playing and pricking them just to hear a blast sound.

It was very thoughtful of this young man to do this act.... surely assures the belief that goodness prevails even these maddening busy times.
Nalini Hebbar said…
Wonderful story...touched!
T F Carthick said…
Interesting incident. Nicely observed and captured all the details. More so amzing how your able to observe so much detail when busy attending to your toddler.

By the way, you don't seem to have been posting for a month seems like.
Anonymous said…
Very nice post. You have captured the incident very well. The joy of giving is truely great.
Anonymous said…
Very nice post. You have captured the incident very well. The joy of giving is truely great.
S.R.Ayyangar said…
Nice post.All children behave in the same fashion for balloon.
MuddassirShah said…
Touche!!
Wonderful Narration
Unknown said…
Wow...such a kind soul that man has....big example of selflessness.
Great to hear such an incident, which has a deeper impact on all of us. By the way, long time since a post from you, I guess the little one is keeping you busy.
Those lines you wrote in the end were perfect, Take Care.
Cheers :)
S.R.Ayyangar said…
Nice post.All children behave in the same fashion for balloon.
Vibhuti B said…
Haha Nanka,
and since you know my son well by now Im sure you could actually visualise the episode as I narrated it..LOL
And yes Rumz,
it was exactly like that 'Paavpaaaaav' wailing. Much worse if u ask..Much like the 'Coppo'incident with Mihir in fact.
Hope I dont hit a writer's slump ever again. This one was really bad.
I'll try to bring to you more of these light hearted anrrations if u say so..:D
Rumya said…
Enjoyed your narration of this incident!! :)
Can well imagine 'U' in distress over the balloon ;) Must have been just like the Pav incident... LOL :D

Welcome back to Klishmaklaver!! Enjoy your light-hearted blogging...!! :) Daily 'U' incidents are more than enough to keep this blog going.. ;) Yay for that!! :D
Kailash said…
what happened to the girl? You totally forgot about her. :D, did she get one too?
rutujaj said…
What a joyous post!
The balloonwala sure has brought a smile to lotsa faces. Do something sweet and am sure it comes back to you ten-fold...
Anonymous said…
Nice! that was such a selfless gesture. I loved the way u kept the post crisp and engaging till the very last line. Selfless and giving is what I take back from this :)

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