THE EARTHWORM

“It is a strange world, Sir. Here earthworms have to prove that they are earthworms, not snakes,” I am reminded of this one-liner, and the person who said it, whenever some stranger comes out for my help from nowhere. A flashback to an episode about more than twenty year ago.

            An friend of mine from the army had come to New Delhi to get his wife treated of a kidney stone. I arranged for an appointment at a busy kidney hospital and accompanied him and his wife on the appointed day. We waited in the visiting room while the laser-generated shock was being administered to the patient. After about an hour the doctor came out to say, "Another shock will be necessary to dissolve the stone. If you deposit the fee and bring the receipt in an hour I can give the shock right now.”

            Now, there was a problem at hand. The fee for a single shock was rupees six thousand. Neither of us had that much amount and the banks would have closed for the day. The ATMs had not come in vogue. My friend had to return to Leh, his place of posting, that very weekend. If the shock was not given that day, we would have to wait for a few weeks for the next appointment

.           With anxious steps, we walked down to the administrative wing and met the accountant. He was a middle-aged spectacled man with an unshaven face and sad, intense eyes. More than an accountant or cashier, he looked like a character from an art movie. He studied our faces and listened to our problem. After asking a few questions about our occupations, he issued a receipt for the amount on our assurance to pay him the money next morning.

            When we returned, the doctor was chatting cordially with my friend’s wife. He shook my friend’s hand warmly, “A pleasant surprise Captain! Your wife is the daughter of a dear friend whom I’ve not met for the last ten years. I shall arrange this second shock free of cost. Get this receipt cancelled and take your money back.”

            Glad at the turn of events, we again went to the accountant. He took the receipt, put it in his drawer and resumed posting entries in a ledger.

           My friend was suspicious, "But sir, you have not cancelled the receipt?”

            Looking up, he said," Look Captain, you haven’t paid me anything. Your work has been done. It matters little to you if I cancel the receipt or not. You may leave now."

 After returning from the hospital, my friend kept on insisting that the accountant had some ulterior motive for not cancelling the receipt in our presence and that these clerks were known to be greedy and corrupt.

         A month after this incident, on a chance visit to the same hospital, I met that accountant just out of curiosity. I asked him casually about his odd behaviour that day. He took a deep breath and said, with a faraway look in his eyes, “Your friend was in distress. I helped him, even took a risk more than I could afford. Yet, he suspected my motives.”

            He took out his spectacles, polished them with a slightly soiled handkerchief and added in philosophical tone, "It is a strange world, Sir. Here earthworms have to prove that they are earthworms, not snakes.”

 ******