Caught in the middle

Another day I took a rickshaw early in the morning. A man followed us screaming that he was the owner of that rickshaw. He was asking the rickshaw-wallah to give him twenty rupees. The driver said, “No, I have just started.”

The owner said, “Yesterday you did not give me the money. You have to give me twenty rupees at least. Otherwise, I will not allow you to use the rickshaw.”

Already I was one mile away from my house. I said, “I am supposed to give the money to the rickshaw-wallah. Instead, let me give the money to you.”

But the rickshaw-wallah, the one who was pulling me, said, “No, if you give him the money, he will not give it to me.”

There was a fight between the owner and the rickshaw-wallah. The owner did not want him to drive the rickshaw. Poor me! I was completely lost between the two. I was ready to give the money. The one who was driving was asking me not to give the owner money, but the owner wanted to have money from me. I said, “I really do not know what to do.”

Finally the owner went away, hating this fellow, and we continued on to the nursing home. When I came out after two hours, I gave the driver his money. I had said that I would give thirty rupees, but then I would always give the drivers forty rupees to make them happy.

From:Sri Chinmoy,My express visit to India, Agni Press, 1995
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/evi