The First Step of a Thousand Miles (Part-4)

 

Episode - 4  

On a cold, unforgiving night, standing in a foreign country with nothing but a small briefcase in hand, I found myself experiencing something I had never even imagined: the true beauty of humanity. In that moment, I realized how selfless acts of kindness can transcend language, borders, and cultures.

An elderly man and a young person had both given up their turn in the taxi to help me. They weren’t just being kind; they genuinely cared about my well-being. Their compassion touched me so deeply that my eyes welled up with tears of gratitude. The first impression I had of the Japanese people, which I had formed when I first arrived, was now becoming even stronger. Their hospitality, their willingness to help, and their dedication to human values taught me an invaluable lesson: love and kindness have no language but the language of the heart.

The taxi moved slowly through the bitter cold, and I anxiously awaited the moment when I would finally reach my destination. After an hour of driving, the taxi came to a stop in a dimly lit alley. We were in front of a small house. I noticed Pakistani-style clothes hanging on a clothesline, and for a moment, I thought it might be a house belonging to fellow Pakistanis. But the door remained closed, and no one answered my knock.

The cold was unbearable, and I had no warm clothes to protect myself. As I stood there, waiting, the minutes dragged on. After about twenty minutes, I saw a car approach in the distance. It was the same taxi, and the driver got out and came to me, saying something that sounded like "Police!" in Japanese. I was confused and unsure of what he meant. But he motioned for me to get back into the taxi. My mind raced with thoughts of what might happen next, but I followed his instructions, unsure of what was to come.

Fifteen minutes later, we stopped again. This time, the taxi halted in front of a different building, where a woman stood waiting, holding a bicycle. The driver spoke with her briefly, and they exchanged polite gestures. I watched, silent and unsure, wondering what might be in store for me. Then, to my surprise, the woman placed my briefcase in the basket of her bicycle and motioned for me to follow her.

What could possibly happen next? Why had she come to help me? What was her connection to all this? And where was she taking me? I couldn’t help but wonder as I walked behind her.

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