Real Heroes from Real Life- And they are all around us

Speak to people, strike a conversation with strangers; you never know when a meaningful lesson will unfold, an inspiring life insight will emerge.  As is my habit, I always speak to my Uber, Ola drivers during my rides.  And many a times I come back richer with human stories, with a fresh perspective to life. They act as my window to the world beyond the Glass walls of Air cooled Corporate offices. A recent ride with Uber proved to be one such profound experience.  My conversation with the driver, segued into a sensitive arena of politics and elections. In a world where a balanced, well rounded perspective is on the verge of extinction, I was surprised by his mature, informed and nuanced point of view, presented with an articulation that many of us in white collar jobs are devoid of. Since he was effortlessly dropping in English words with almost impeccable pronunciation, I couldn’t resist asking him about his education. It turned out that he was Masters in Political Science. He used to work with a Pharma company in Vardha(Gujarat) until about last year before his life took an unfortunate turn; His wife was diagnosed with blood cancer. He had no choice but to leave the job and return to his village in UP. Financial and Physical burden of looking after his wife was too much for him to manage alone in a foreign land whilst also taking care of his two young daughters. After having begun her preliminary treatment, he began the next struggle; Finding a job for himself. An unsuccessful job hunt that lasted a few months, took him to Delhi for a living. When nothing else worked out, he decided to drive the cab for someone else as he did not have enough funds to invest in own vehicle. 

Barely had he started to cope up with the ailing wife and the new life, another unfortunate event befell him. His younger daughter, of about 3 years was diagnosed with a congenital heart problem which needed an immediate surgery.  He again had to rush back to his home town to get her operated.  

For a brief moment, all my problems seemed way too smaller, and so did my character that gets ruffled up by any deviation from my expectation of life

And here was this man, unfolding the layers of his life, revealing the battered side, with complete nonchalance. Composure on his face betrayed the strength inside. Not for a moment I sensed negativity in his demeanor. Not once did he sound bitter by the raw deal of life. There was more Hope than despair
He made me realize that Heroes do not only exist in TVs or Newspapers. And they are also not always changing the world. Many real heroes are just going about their everyday struggles with head held high. Despite battered by life, they are carrying a cross on shoulders for their loved ones. And Bajrang is definitely a Hero.