My neighbour was up to something. I would see her waiting outside the building’s front door with a big plastic bag. She would then go back in, and a few hours later, came out again with the same bag.
Finally, as I was coming home from work, I saw who she was waiting for. It was an older woman from China I have seen around the neighbourhood. As I saw my neighbour give her the bag, the woman smiled and kept saying “thank you!” followed by tears. The bag was full of new clothes.
The older woman, who distributes tiny pieces of paper with offers of maid and cleaning services, had always worn the same floral dress. We have all seen her around, but none of us had done anything for her. But my neighbour was a hero for this woman on that day, and a hero to the rest of us who were too busy to do anything for someone who was obviously struggling.
The next time I saw the older woman, she was wearing a new light blue dress. And unlike the previous times, when she kept her head down as she walked around putting the paper at people’s doors, she held it up and smiled. The smallest of gestures can truly make a difference in someone’s life.
I asked my neighbour what made her do it. “I once opened my door as she was bending over to put down a piece of paper. She looked embarrassed and apologised, and asked me if I would like a maid. I noticed how tired and sad she looked,” she said.
“I also saw how she was trying to hide a big tear in her dress with her purse. I decided that this woman could have been my mother, I couldn’t let her walk around like this in an old dress feeling ashamed.”
The guard told me that others in the neighbourhood had ended up giving the woman gifts and money: a beautiful ripple effect from one gesture of kindness.
As the world celebrates Eid Al Adha, it is a good time to pause for a moment and ask: when was the last time you were a hero in someone’s life? It could be someone close to you, or a complete stranger. Just randomly be a hero, do something kind, generous and courageous, and perhaps not even tell anyone about it.
The definition of a hero is quite broad. It’s someone fighting for their life against a terminal disease, the champion born into poverty who fought against all odds to win a gold medal, the parents who make sacrifices for their children, even someone who sends a tweet or message that makes somebody else smile. It can be anyone in any situation doing something positive.
Seriously, there is always something small you can do: emptying a bottle of water on to a patch of vegetation; wiping something slippery from a path; or removing a potentially harmful object like a sharp stone from a parking spot, so that nobody gets hurt or their car’s tyres are not damaged.
There are heroes who jump into a building on fire or into a raging sea to save someone’s life, and then there are those who do small acts that make someone’s life a bit better, if just for a day.
As someone who always makes time for animals and birds, I was delighted to find out that since I have been leaving wooden bowls of water and dry cat food outside the building for random strays, they are being filled up by other people in the neighbourhood. Farther away, I even found a bowl filled with bird seeds next to another bowl of water. The birds were having a party at these bowls, singing and jumping in and out.
One of my heroes – an elderly relative who has gone through wars and tragedies yet is always giving and smiling – said: “Be a hero to yourself by living up to a life that you, yourself, can admire. Be the example instead of pointing out the flaws in others. That is easy to do and doesn’t help or change anything.”
Since there is great misery and sadness around us, we all call for “Superman” to save the world, and even save us from ourselves. But, as sappy as it sounds, we can all be someone’s Superman or Wonder Woman.
rghazal@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @Arabianmau
