Every once in a few months or years, we all come across incidents that make our faith in humanity a little stronger.

In April ’21, I had just finished a group trip in Meghalaya, and four of us went to Dirang. We wanted to stay there for 2 days, & took a room in a small homestay. But then the 2nd Covid lockdown happened & all states got shut.

We ended up staying in that room, in Wangdi homestay for 27 days. It was blissful. We would wake up late, there was no Covid in Dirang, we would go on hikes every day, sit by the river, lie down and read in meadows. Every day.

But what was more beautiful was the connection we built with the homestay family. We ate breakfast and dinner with them every day with uncle and aunty. and their son, Wangdi, and his fiance Tshering. His elder sister Tenzing Lhamu kept visiting. Her cake shop is the best in Dirang.

Over 27 days, we got to know them, their little victories, little sadnesses. Once the lockdown lifted, we left. Over the years, we would see each other’s stories and posts. But time makes us forget things.

Or does it?

For Shrimayi’s birthday last week, the two of us went to Dirang. On a whim, I called Wangdi and said “I’m reaching tomorrow. Can we get a room?” By now, they had expanded the homestay. Even built a grander resort on the top of a mountain. “Neeraj, I’m so happy you called, but both resort and homestay are totally booked out” he said. “That’s alright, I’ll still come see you and meet you guys” I told him.

Within minutes, Tshering called me & invited us for lunch. When we reached there, the two of them smiled broadly. We hugged tightly. It was a delicious lunch.

I had shared a story that I was in Dirang. Tenzing (the sister) saw it while she was teaching in school. By the time we finished lunch, she had sent a birthday cake to the homestay. I was so stunned. We hadn’t even texted her. She just saw an insta story and sent us a cake.

I wanted to meet uncle and aunty. They were at the resort. We drove to it. Tenzing surprised us there by coming directly from school. We hugged uncle aunty. They looked exactly the same. We had chai, snacks. They kept feeding us.

“I am so angry at Wangdi” aunty said. “He told you the resort is booked out. Uncle and I would have given you our room and we’d have stayed in a tent in the garden”, she said. The sentence overwhelmed me. I was speechless.

“We will do some jugaad. Stay with us tomorrow. Leave your cottage”, they told us. Overjoyed, we agreed.

The two of us were in a monastery an hour later, and Tenzing called. “Come to my place for dinner”. We spent the whole evening at her place, eating the best momos.

Next day we checked into Wangdi resort. Over a sumptuous dinner, we spent the evening listening to uncle and aunty.

Next morning, when we were leaving, they refused to take money from us for the room. We kept protesting saying we wouldn’t want to stay for free. But they just didn’t agree. “Captain you were with us when we had nothing. You are family. We will never take money from you” said uncle. My feeble protests didn’t help. That was the final word.

We kept telling them how much our parents would love staying with them. And that we would get them to Dirang next summer. Uncle again announced “You all will stay with us for free”. Again the protests didn’t help. When we left, they gave us a huge bag of fruits from the orchard.

This story isn’t about the free room. Or the food. I am sharing this story for its love. For the love they gave us. They have become very successful now. Busy. But that hasn’t changed them a bit.

They gave so much time to us, all of them. We love Tenzing for her warmth and her talkative-ness. We love Tshering for her shy yet mischievous ways. We love uncle aunty for their “saadgi”.

Every once in a few months or years, we all come across incidents that make our faith in humanity a little stronger. And such heartwarming stories need to be told and shared.