Day when my conscience corrected me...

My interaction with various people I met in my organization has always been precise and to the point. I am an introvert person and that could be the principle reason behind it.


In my department, we had a colleague who had a very cool temperament to all the things we said about him. He never retaliated. He always smiled back. I had often wondered why this person smiled back even though he was the butt of our jokes. Seriously, I never understood him.


One fateful day, when I was working in my department, I got a call from a lady saying that something was not working. I checked and found it to be working satisfactorily. Again, after a few minutes the same lady called back to say that the issue was far from resolved. I checked once again to find the issue was something else and rectified it. I decided to go back and clarify that what she was stating was not true and the issue was something else and has been rectified. I must admit that I was a bit irritated by that time. The conversation that started off casually soon became a war of words and even before I could realize what I was uttering, I categorically said, “that is why you are there and I am here”. She was yelling back at me in denial even though I pretended to hear nothing and left the place.


Soon it was time to pack the bags and take the long train journey back home. I deliberately take a slow local to give myself enough time to ponder upon how good or bad my day in the office was. I normally try to recollect the sequence of events in the day and it struck me that I had said something very nasty and the Almighty will never forgive me. I was not able to sleep well that night and was thinking of how to wash away my sins.


Next morning, I got up early and visited a temple, close to my house. I took time to pray for forgiveness. I reached office early and called up the lady to say sorry and apologize for the slip of tongue. She said, “It was ok”. But, I knew she had been bruised and aggrieved deep inside and I will never be able to fill up the wounds of humiliation. I had learnt my lesson.” Never hurt anybody”.


This incident made me think about the colleague who always smiled back. I decided that henceforth I will never crack a joke or be a part of a team that are keen on hurting others sentiments. I learnt to respect their feelings and emotions. I met my colleague and told him to forgive me for all the wrong doings. He just smiled back again……