No dearth of kind people around us
ABOUT 15 years ago, a maid started working at my house in Patiala. I asked her about her family. She revealed that her husband was lodged in the Kapurthala jail after being arrested four months earlier. When I tried to probe deeper, she said the sarpanch of her village, Bahadurgarh, knew the details of the case. I requested her to arrange my meeting with him.
One day, she brought the sarpanch to my home. He informed me that the woman’s husband had been nabbed by the railway police at the Rajpura station for drinking in a public place and was facing trial in Phagwara. I consulted an advocate and later sought legal advice from a Jalandhar-based additional sessions judge who was known to my family. He said the punishment for this offence was a three-month jail term, which the maid’s husband had already served. He advised that the man should plead guilty in court, express remorse to the judge and seek leniency.
Without any delay, I boarded a bus to Jalandhar and stayed with my friend, a retired senior executive engineer. I apprised him of the case. He told me that an assistant district attorney (ADA) was living in his neighbourhood. The next morning, he put me in touch with the ADA, who took me along to Kapurthala in his car. At the jail, I introduced myself as a retired additional superintending engineer of the Punjab State Electricity Board and sought a meeting with the jail superintendent. His staff told me to wait as he was on a round of the premises.
When the jail superintendent returned to his office, I told him about the purpose of my visit. He treated me warmly and offered a cup of tea. Subsequently, we met the undertrial and I informed him that his wife was working at my house. Promising to help him as much as I could, I told him to follow the additional sessions judge’s advice. The jail superintendent gave me his phone number and asked me to contact him for any assistance.
Having got the details of the advocate concerned from the jail staff, I contacted him. He demanded payment for his services. I called up a friend in Phagwara and requested him to pay Rs 300 to the advocate.
A few weeks later, I got to know that the maid’s husband had been released. This news brought immense satisfaction, but I knew very well that I had not done it on my own. Every person who had helped me on the way deserved credit. The life lesson was that if you set out with sincerity to help the needy, there are kind people around to further your cause and ensure the success of your endeavour.
Musings