In Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) discovered his "long-lost friend" in a vegetable vendor, whose act of kindness helped him 14 years back.
A "dream-come-true" moment for the duo came to life when DSP Santosh Patel's vehicle stopped in front of the vegetable vendor, named Salman Khan, leaving the latter terrified at the sight of the police. However, Khan's nervousness and fear vanished as he discovered that it was his old friend, who had come looking for him!
DSP Patel asked Khan, "Mereko pehchante ho?" (Do you recognise me?), to which, the latter replied with a smile, "Bilkul achi tarah se, sir. Aap sabzi lene aate the (I remember you well, sir. You would come to take vegetables).”
Both men hugged each other, as they relieved the old memories of when Salman Khan helped DSP Santosh Patel 14 years back, at the time when he was a stuggling engineering student in Bhopal, as reported by The Indian Express.
"There were days when I did not have money to buy food": Santosh Patel recalls
In a conversation with The Indian Express, DSP Santosh Patel went nostalgic as he remembered his struggling days.
“I am the first graduate in my family of 120 people in Panna. I am also the first police officer in my family. I went to Bhopal to study engineering against all odds, and then prepared for the MP Public Service Commission. There were days when I did not have money to buy food. Khan was kind enough to feed me tomatoes and baingan. He has a heart of gold", he says.
Furthermore, Salman Khan was on cloud nine on meeting an old friend. “I got scared when the police van came. But when I saw Patel, I found a long lost friend. I sold vegetables to thousands of people – nobody remembers my face, they move on. But Patel came and met me. I had followed him on social media and was proud of the officer he had become. I never knew he would meet me. He gave me a box of sweets and some cash. He remembers his roots, remembers me. This was a dream come true", he stated.
The DSP has also posted a video of his heartwarming meeting with his friend. "I met Salman Khan when I was studying engineering in Bhopal. He used to understand my feelings and give me vegetables for free. When we met suddenly after 14 years, we both were very happy. Forgetting someone who stood by you in bad times is no less than a sin. A person should not have one fault, he should not be ungrateful", he captioned the video.
At present, DSP Santosh Patel is posted in Gwalior's Behat division.
