Thank you, no matter what.

- By Tiniam Mani Shyam Sunder, Businessman, Chennai

It was raining heavily and the roads were flooded. As I was sitting at home and watching television there was a sudden urge in me to go out and see the impact of the rain fall. With an umbrella to protect me from the downpour I stepped out of my house and as I was wading through the pool of water I could see children running back to their homes with their school bags held above their heads, I could hear the cursing of a man whose vehicle had got struck in the rain, and the incessant honking from the long line of vehicles trying to move through the narrowed down road due to the water logging.

There was chaos all around, there was irritation in the faces of all the people except two people. One was me and the other was the flower vendor lady who sits in front of the temple and does her business. It was understandable that I was calm for I had nothing to do but to gaze around. But I was surprised to see the serenity and tranquility on her face as the place where she sold flowers was knee deep in water and there was no way she could do her business that day and earn her days bread.

I walked towards her with a smile. She smiled back the way she normally does. After beating around the bush for sometime, I asked her, "So you are cursing the rain for spoiling your business?"

She gave me a puzzled look at me and said, "How can I curse rain, which is the very source of life?"

What she continued to say, transformed me. She said, "See, sahib, I can not be selfish, can I? It is not the responsibility of the rain to see if my business is in order or not, it has a larger purpose. Its job is to quench the parched earth and allow vegetation to flower." She added, as she wiped her wet face with a small dry part of her sari, "Dry days maybe good to me for me but not good to humanity as a whole. The money I earn today may not pay for my full meal but it would be enough to keep my hunger pangs away. But if mother earth is thirsty due to rainless days it would leave millions hungry." She concluded by saying, "Sahib, a little less to me is okay if there is so much more for all others."

My inhibitions and our culture prevented me from hugging her, but my acknowledgement to her with a smile must have conveyed my respect and admiration for her, for she suddenly blushed and giggled like a little girl and said, "Sahib, my talks are too big for my small status, aren't they?" I just shook my head and walked away in amazement.

As I was walking back, I mulled over this thought: "The flower lady is not grateful to God because she is happy today. Rather, she is happy today because she is grateful to God." Somehow, in her, for a moment I had experienced God. My heart too filled with tremendous gratitude for the Creator who let's us know, everyday, in so many little ways that there is always a reason to smile. No matter what.