The Patna sun was melting the city down. The wind felt like the fire breath of a  dragon.   Only two weeks ago, Sunil’s son took him to a nearby temple. His son said he  was going to get a few sweets to offer to the goddess but he never came back.  Since then, Sunil had been looking for someplace where he could sit without  being frowned upon.   Roaming the narrow streets of the city, it was beside Seema’s tea stall where  Sunil found a spot where he could sit down and rest for a while without anyone  bothering him.   Seema was … a character. She was cranky and old and skilled at bookkeeping.  Her furrowed brows would shoo away at least ten customers a day. She too had  been abandoned by her children and this tea stall was her only means of living.   A poor boy worked at the stall to earn a few extra rupees. His name was  Animesh.   After coming back from school, he never got the rest other children did. Instead  Animesh would change and go straight to the tea stall to help Seema at a daily  wage basis.   One day, while serving tea to a customer in his car, Animesh spotted Sunil, a  frail old man with parched lips, wearing a pair of crooked glasses. He was sitting  on a couple of bricks kept by the stall.  Usually someone would end up giving Sunil something or the other to eat  looking at the poor old hag, but it had been three days since he had had nothing  to eat.   Animesh went to Sunil to check on him. Sunil, with his teary eyes, looked up and  requested for something to eat.   Animesh felt pity. He went back to the stall and sneaked out a biscuit and a cup  of tea for the hag.   Sunil felt very fulfilled just by seeing the eatables.   Soon this became a daily habit. Almost a month had passed without Seema  noticing this.  At the end of the month, when Seema sat down with the monthly expenses and  income, she easily found a difference of ₹250.   The next day, Seema questioned Animesh about the same but he refused to  answer. She knew something was wrong.   After a couple of sharp pinches on his arm, he spilled the truth.   Seema turned red and started to beat him up with her slipper. She got rid of him  and refused to pay his monthly wage.   Animesh went home crying, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to give his  parents that ₹100 extra every month.   Sunil saw this and felt really bad. The next day, Sunil went to talk to Seema. He  narrated what tragic events had happened in his life.   Seema heard him and fell silent. Her eyes, usually so sharp and cold, softened.  She went into flashback, remembering the days where she was abandoned by  her children, just like Sunil. When she was homeless and hungry, she hoped that  someone, too, would help her like Animesh helped Sunil. She realised that she  shouldn’t have been so strict with Animesh.   She called him back the next day. Animesh was visibly frightened of what would  happen next, but Seema only gently put her hand to his head and asked him to  sit beside her.   She narrated her story while caressing his soft hair, as if he was her grandchild.   “I have never told anyone about this. You are the first one I am sharing this with.  Beta, I am really sorry for what I did. Will you please come back?”   Animesh broke into tears and readily agreed. He finally understood why she  was so money-minded and cranky. It was life that made her this way.   The next morning, she saw the old man leaving. She stopped him and signalled  him to come to her. The man slowly walked towards her.   “I can understand where you come from. If you want, you could work here, you  know. I wouldn’t be able to pay you much, but…”   Before she could complete her sentence, she was interrupted by an overflow of  the man’s emotions. He nodded with tears running down his wrinkled cheeks.   No person is born angry or bubbly or cranky or sad. It is the people they meet  in life and the paths they cross that shape who they are. No matter who you are  or what you have gone through, there’s always some kindness and humanity left  in this world.