Do not judge a book by its cover

Chiedza Matenga
In life some of the most important things come from the most unlikely sources. Long back in India, there lived a man who was always alone. Never did he come out to meet the others even for festivals. The religious Diwali was not even an occasion he would attend. People in the nearby village would wonder and ask each other why he never mingled with them. He lived quietly, hunting for meat and getting his water from the nearby river.

For over 60 years, he lived his reclusive life and shunned any attention from his fellow villagers.

No one ever knew his real name so they called Allah Janata hai which means God Knows.

But he was there when he was needed. Once when some teenagers were out taking a swim in the Little Indian River, one of them almost drowned.

Janata jumped in to save him. Afterwards, the little scared boy thanked him and Janata simply nodded and told them to get out of his space.

The villagers feared that one day he might die and it would take the stench of his rotten body for people to know he was dead.

One night the village elder Sayid who was considered the oldest and wisest had a vision of a drought that would come.

Sure enough a terrible drought overtook the land. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, months turned into a full year and still there was no rain. The Little Indian River was nothing but a dry place now.

A woman called Raynedine remembered being told when she was young that rain was an individual, who visited the people if only they were united or when they needed him the most.

“When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I must go.” These were the words of Rain and she wondered why he was not there when they needed him.

During the night, she sat outside searching the sky for signs of rain. A person walked up to her. It was Allah Janata hai covered in a huge traditional quilt with Indian designs on it. This quilt was said to be owned by spiritual people only.

He would not say anything but she invited him in. His quilt was full of water and she took him straight to the fire.

Raynedine could only offer him a cup of hot water. But why was he not talking? No one could answer her and so she went to bed and left him by the fire.

When she woke up the next morning she found the fireside deserted with water marking the place where Janata had sat the previous night. She went outside to find the trees having life in them and women carrying water from the Little Indian River.

She thought out aloud, “It was Rain who visited me last night and sat inside the house.” When she told them about it, the villagers went to look for Janata and could not find him. Never again was he seen in those parts nor heard of.

So it does not matter what a person looks like, how they live their life, how they dress or who they talk to.

If they do you no harm, then do them no harm in turn for you never know when that person may prove to be your blessing in disguise.