After wandering for several hours in search of a friend, I reached the bus stand on London Highway and after waiting for few minutes a bus arrived at the stop. I got up into the bus and was relieved see to two seats vacant and jumped into one of them.
Getting space in the said bus on this busy highway not than a blessing and started to relax.
Few minutes later, the bus reached next stop and an elderly couple entered the vehicle. The woman, who seemed to be in good health, jumped into the empty seat next to me, but finding no other seats vacant in the bus, her husband started looking around with longing eyes. Everyone was busy with their own fun and no one in the entire bus noticed that an old man was standing.
I was quite tired and my destination was still quite far away, but still, for some reason, I made room for the old man. I stood up and asked him to sit down. At that moment, a gleam of joy appeared in the old man’s eyes and he let go of the handle he was holding with one hand and saluted me. During this process, he fell down. I supported him and made him sit on the seat.
After having a seat, the old man questioned me, “You don’t look like a local. Which country do you belong to?” I told, “From Pakistan.” He said, “Perhaps Muslims live in Pakistan.” I informed, “Yes, Pakistan is a Muslim country.”
He said, “That’s why you left your seat for me because I know that this is what your religion and the traditions of your country teach you.”
Saying this, he started telling his wife about me that he belonged to a Muslim country, Pakistan, and that old woman started looking at me with eyes of devotion and love. Listening to this old man and seeing that loving look of his wife, my chest tightened and I started to feel delighted of the teachings of my religion and the training of my elders.
The peace of mind that I got from standing up and traveling that day cannot be described in words and for the first time I started to feel proud of being a Muslim and a Pakistani…
