I am Rayaan, a 23-year-old guy who works as a business development associate at a company in Chennai.

It was during one weekend on a Saturday afternoon. I was watching cricket on TV when my house doorbell rang. I opened the door and saw a lady-beggar asking for money. I said ‘no’ and quickly closed the door.

I continued watching cricket, and again after five minutes, the bell rang. When I opened it, it was her again. I said, “I told you, I don’t have any change to give you. Why are you troubling me?”

She replied, “Do you have anything to eat? I am hungry.”

I froze for a second and remembered that I had last night’s chapati and gravy, which I had kept for breakfast. But since it was the weekend, I woke up in the mid-afternoon. So I said, “Yes, I have some food. Wait here, I will heat it and bring it for you.”

I came back and gave her the food. She sat down to eat outside the door, but I couldn’t see her, so I said, “Come and sit in the hall and eat it.”