The streetcar named luck

This profound incident happened with me when I was working with United Nations Mission in Ethiopia & Eritrea.

Once, I was travelling in a car to a nearby village. On my way, I saw a group of very old women slowly walking. It was a sweltering day. I stopped to enquire and I learnt (through my translator) that they were going to the same place I was going to. So I gave them a lift. After about half a kilometre, we saw another group of women not as old as those in my car, walking in the same direction. I couldn’t pick them up because there was no space in my car. As we crossed this group of women, much to my surprise, the old women in my car started waving victoriously at them and the group walking on road, retorted back with shrills and hoot. And the same thing happened, again and again, as we crossed more groups of women walking in the road. Curious, I asked my translator to help me understand whats happening. He told me that all of them were going to collect food aid from WFP (World Food Program) centre and that all the groups of women were from the same village and had started walking together. But the ones whom I had given lift, were left behind in the journey, as they were old and couldn’t keep pace! Apparently, only the first few who reach, manages to get some aid. Now, the old women in my car, by virtue of getting a lift, would reach the centre first and surely get some food aid.

At first, I felt like god. But it didn’t take much to realise the profundity of the situation. These old women knew well that they would never be able to keep pace with others. They also knew that they may walk the entire distance only to reach late and return empty handed! Yet, they chose to walk the distance. And from nowhere, a car reaches them from behind, picks them up and puts them right in front, ahead of all others, the able, the faster, the fitter people. Imagine, had they given up en route, or for that matter not started at all, would they have got food?!!

All of us in our long journey of life get left behind somewhere or start the race late. Somebody is always ahead of us somewhere. While it matters how fast we walk, but I believe what actually matters is how fast we reach. The idea is to keep walking and never lose hope. For, we never know, the streetcar named luck may just be around the corner, waiting to give us a lift, a gentle push to propel us in front, ahead of others and put us back in the race. Of course, we must not reason that luck is everything, and blindly enter a race counting only on luck. We must do our bit, and as Paulo Coelho says, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Lets keep walking. The streetcar named luck is just around the corner!