A US man’s interaction with an elderly woman selling pens at Delhi’s Connaught Place has drawn attention on Instagram after he shared a video of the brief yet emotional exchange.
The video was shared by Steve Yalo, who often posts clips from his travels. In the clip, Yalo is seen approaching the woman after noticing that she was trying to sell pens on the street.
US man buys pens from elderly woman in Delhi
“This lady’s over here trying to sell pens and no one’s buying them. Hello! How are you? You have a very nice smile. You’re selling pens. How much?” Yalo is heard saying in the video.
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{{/usCountry}}The woman replies, “50,” indicating that one pen costs ₹50.
“50 for one pen? Okay. What’s your name? No English? Okay,” Yalo says before buying two pens from her. “Okay, here’s 100 for two pens. Thank you. You know what? Here’s another hundred. I’ll take two more pens,” he adds.
During the exchange, the elderly woman tells him in Hindi, “Koi nahi hai mera,” which means, “I have no one.” She further says, “Akeli hai,” and “Akeli baithi hai,” meaning that she is alone and sitting there by herself.
Yalo, who does not understand Hindi at that moment, says, “I’m not sure what that means, but I’ll translate this later.” The woman again says, “Koi nahi hai.”
Moved by her situation, Yalo counts the pens she has and realises that buying all of them would cost ₹900. However, he tells her that he does not have that much cash on him.
“Yeah. You have a very lovely energy. You have a nice smile. I hope you sell all these pens. Let’s see, how many pens do you have? It’s 50 for 1? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... 16, 17, 18. So, 18 times 50... uh, 900. You know, I don’t have 900. This is all the money I have left on me. I have 550. You can have this. Yeah, good luck. And I’ll take these two beautiful pens. Okay, have a nice day!” he says.
The clip was shared with the caption, “Buying pens on the street in New Delhi, India.”
Watch the clip here:
Internet reacts
Reacting to the video, one user wrote, “This made me emotional, she deserved that kindness.” Another said, “Her smile says everything.” A third commented, “Thank you for treating her with so much respect.” Another added, “Small acts like this restore faith in humanity.” One user wrote, “The way she said she has no one broke my heart.” Another said, “India has so many such stories on every street.” A comment also read, “You did not just buy pens, you gave her dignity and hope.”
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