It was around 9 PM,before heading to dinner in Jayanagar T Block, a suburb of Bangalore, I was told by my wife that the rickshaw fare would be 40 rupees. Any how I had Rs 150 in my Pocket
 
Now, drivers of big-city, three-wheeled rickshaws are not typically known for their compassion. In fact, if they see out-of-town travellers, they'll try to scam them one way or another. And ego always hurts when you get ripped-off. :)
 
At a crowded stop, a young girl extended her hands through the iron bars on the side of our rickshaw to ask for some money. After we refused, our rickshaw driver started a discourse on giving. :)
 
"Giving is good. Every human should give. But we should know how to give." I looked at each with a "huh?" face. The rickshaw driver continued, "Most of these kids, they are trained by this one guy who keeps all the money. It's run like a business. All of us should give, but this is just not the right place to give."
 
A lesson in giving, from a random rickshaw-wala? Bring it on! He talked a bit more, before we reached our destination. "Yestappa - Yestayatu?" I asked to inquire about the fare. "39 Rupees," he said. Just an honest, straight forward kind of guy.
 
Now, most people who get ripped off end up saying, "Well, you know, I don't mind paying extra if it was a good guy but I refuse to be cheated." But of course, when times are good, we become greedy and conveniently forget that vow. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I remembered this time.
 
I gave him 40 rupees, and he gave me a 1 rupee coin in return (most folks would just round up). From his conversation and just an intuitive sense, I knew this was a good guy. So I put the coin in my wallet, and took out a 100 rupee note.
 
"Yenappa, can you do me a favor?" "Heli sir," he replied courteously. "We were talking about art of giving. You seem to know how and where to give. Can you put this 100 rupees to good use somewhere?"
 
Most people would be flustered, but this guy, without hesitation, replied: "Give me your address and I'll make sure I get a receipt of where I gave." I didn't understand him at first, so he repeated it. I smiled and told him, "I trust you."
 
Of course, we are not walking millionaires that we can drop 100 rupee notes in random places. So on the way back, instead of taking Auto to my  place, I walked for the whole distance since I did'nt had sufficient money. It was almost 1AM, I had to wake up 6AM the next day, but  I still walked.
 
One rupee in change, turned into 100 rupees of good karma. What fortune!
 
Ramesh Kamath
 

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