Thank God! We Can Speak!

The weather was hot and humid and it was mid-afternoon. I entered into a cell phone provider's outlet. I had to deposit my monthly mobile phone bill. It was apparently the last date for depositing the bills, so there was a long queue, before the deposit counter. A smart looking young woman was sitting behind the counter. Some of the people were depositing cash while others were depositing cheques. The woman was seemingly a bit lazy in accepting the bills and handing back the payment receipt. There were 10-12 people ahead of me. I was getting impatient by the slow pace of the moment of the queue as I had an appointment with someone in the late afternoon. After waiting for 10-15 minutes, I found that I had moved closer to the counter and now there were only 3 people ahead of me. They also deposed their bills, one by one. At last, there was only one young handsome looking gentleman, wearing jeans and trendy T-shirt, was left, who was to deposit his bills prior to me. His turn came soon.

The counter-woman asked him the amount of his bill and the mode of payment. He kept quiet, as it looked that he did not hear the sound of the woman. The woman raised her voice and again asked the same questions. He did not utter a single word. He indicated something in the sign language to that woman and pulled out his credit card from his wallet. He was apparently wanted to pay the bill through his credit card. However, the woman refused to accept his bill and told him that the credit card machine was not functioning. He again indicated in sign language, showed the bill, wherein it was indicated that it was the last date for paying the bill. He made some more signs with his hands and fingers and perhaps tried to convey to the woman that he did not have any cash or cheque with him and he must make the payment on that day. Watching the whole scene, by now I realized that the man was 'speech-impaired' and the woman sitting behind the counter was finding it very difficult to understand his sign language (perhaps she was not trained or prepared for such type of customers). I noticed that since the handsome young man was 'speech-impaired', it was getting difficult for him to convey his intentions.

The woman refused to help him and asked him to bring either cheque or cash. I felt that his dumbness was becoming a major hindrance in communication. He helplessly looked towards me, as he was asking me -"If, I can bail him out of the situation". I thought for a while and felt that I should help him. I conveyed him with difficulty that I would deposit his bill through cash but he should return the cash to me at my residential address. He felt highly obliged and conveyed me that he would arrange to send the money at my address. He asked me to give my address to him, which I did. I deposited his bill amount that was Rupees 200/- only. He was relieved to see that his bill was finally deposited and there was no need for him to pay any late fee penalty. Next day, someone came to my residence with a slip and Rupees 200/- , it was subscribed on the slip -'Tons of thanks for helping me in my hour of need".

I realized that how lucky we are. I thank God profusely that He has given us vocal cords and voice so that we can communicate with others effectively, had it not been there, our life would have also gone hay wire and all the charm and meaning of our life would have lost. Imagining a situation, where you cannot voice your expressions and feelings appears dreadful to me. I thought that we must realize that each and every sensory organ in our body carries great and invaluable importance for us, be it our vision, smelling power, hearing or speech. We must try our best to preserve the gifts of God and must take care of our sensory organs for betterment of our life.