What we consider little things can matter a great deal to others. The impact of this truth was driven home today by a conversation that I had with a friend / colleague from the eighties of the last century.
This friend has been tagging me and liking some of posts on facebook for some time but today for the first time ever, he left a comment on my blog post “Commitment”. He concluded with the sentence “I am lucky you know me.” I had gratefully responded with “You flatter me. Thank you. I am fortunate to have you in my life too.”
After some time, I decided that such an impersonal response was not enough and called him up on the telephone. I had last spoken to him about two years ago to help me with something in Bengaluru and had not called him after that problem was solved.
He was delighted to hear from me and that made me realise that I should have been calling him more often. As I am wont to do, I teased him about that sentence and he went all emotional about how his regard for me went back to 1985 when he had come to Bombay where I was posted then. He was visiting from our Head Office. He did not know anyone in our office but as people from our other offices did, used our Bombay office as a base while doing whatever work they had in Bombay. Apparently, during lunch time I had seen him sitting all alone and invited him to join the rest of us who used to eat together. He added another instance at another office, when I had organised transport to drop him off at a railway station.
I don’t even remember these instances. These are the kind of things that I will do without ever thinking about them. I continue do do such things even with total strangers. We stopped being colleagues 28 years ago and these events were 32 years ago but, he still remembers!
For him these two instances have had such major impacts that he continues to remember and cherish them and associate me with them after all these years.
Yes, small things matter. To us as well as to others when we do what we consider small things but which may be big things.
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