The Mad Man...!

A few weeks ago my hubby and I were waiting for our train at Vashi station when a lady begged us for money. Since she was looking healthy and capable to make her earning we refused the monetary help but offered her a biscuit packet. All of sudden, out of nowhere an old man in sixties wearing a pant and shirt with wearable slipper and a khadi shoulder bag appeared and scowled the lady away. He then turned to us and requested in English not to offer packed food, as these people don't eat them but sell them back to retailers. He had a point and we nodded.

But that was not it. He then started telling stories of similar incidents and repeating the same sentences in a loop. Within the next 2-3 minutes, we made up our minds to ignore him and designated him as a 'mad man'. Our disregards didn't convince him that he no longer had an audience and continued explaining the same thing. Finally, I broke my silence and rebuked him to leave us alone. In microseconds, I realized I acted irrationally. He was startled, offended and murmured that he only wanted to help.

We all encounter a mad man at least once in a lifetime. They live among us, busy in their own fantasy worlds. We barely notice them and if we do we tend to either avoid them or push them away with our words. For some who can be physically abusive, I agree should be handled only by the experts. What about the others? If they are approaching you which I'm sure is also rare, is treating them like lunatics right?

I know their conversations make no sense and they ask crazy questions. But so do the children and elderly in our families, do we treat them the same way?  They are not aware of their mental state, and couldn't control their behaviors. However, like everyone else, they would surely appreciate the acceptance by society. I'm not advocating to make them your friend, I'm requesting to treat them like humans. They deserve it.

I then smiled at 'the mad man' and said, "Thank you, sir. I understand you are trying to help us and we are grateful. But I don't want you to miss your train, please sit and board the right one. " With expressions still frowned, he sat on the adjacent bench. I looked at him 2 or 3 times to make sure he is alright but never received the smile back. Though I was happy that he stopped the murmur. Maybe for him, I was 'the mad-woman'.