“Some little gestures change your day”, he said to me one day.
“For instance, two days ago, one grumpy morning, I was driving to my office. I had worn my perpetual frown for the day to keep pleasant-talk and smiles away. I had to pass through a narrow lane. One disgrace to road traffic had parked his Maruti 800 on one side, and on the other side was a parked lorry.
Just as I was about to squeeze through the gap in the middle, a larger car appeared at the other end. One of us had to reverse, or honk till the driver of the Maruti or the lorry decided to come out of wherever-they-were and took off.
I muttered a curse under my breath and did not wait, began reversing my car and stopped to the side for the other car to pass. I did not do it out of concern for anyone, I just did not want to waste my time till one of us decides to be gracious.
The “cool” guy in dark glasses in the opposite car drove forward and raised his fingers in acknowledgment as he passed. I pretended not to have seen the arrogant gesture that could add to my list of grumpy experiences of the day and looked at the person seated next to him.
The woman smiled at me as they passed, a good small smile, a genuine acknowledgment of road manners.
It was so insignificant an incident that – guess what?- I followed every other road rule that day and did not shout even at the biker who crossed my path and almost got hit.”