Do you thank people when they do something for you? Do you say that you are sorry when you do something wrong? Do you greet people when you meet them? These small courtesies show that you care for other people. They show that you think about others and treating them with respect. Shall we read about how a young girl, Sweta, showed courtesy to an old woman?

Sweta climbed into the crowded bus. She was happy that there was one empty seat left. She sat down and put her heavy school bag her feet. She was really tired. She had been practicing hard for the school’s sports day. An o0ld woman climb slowly on to the bus just as it was going to start. She was carrying a large bag of vegetables. There was no seat to sit. She tried to hold a railing, but she could not reach it. She looked at two young men sitting near the door hoping that they would offer her a seat. They looked at her, but neither of them got up. They just carried on chatting. The bus started with a jerk, and the old woman almost fell down.

`Poor lady, she must have run to catch the bus’, thought Sweta. She felt very sorry for the old woman so got up from her seat and called out, `Grandmother! Please come and sit here’.

The old woman smiled and said, `Thank you, my child’. Sweta had been kind and courteous. Though she was tired, she had given up her seat to help someone who needed it more. The young men realized that in a gentle way, the young girl had taught everyone in the bus an important lesson in courtesy.

Sweta was a kind girl with good manners. If Sweta had not given her seat to the old woman, the woman may have fallen and hurt herself. The young people who were sitting near the old woman were selfish. Sweta did not scold them, but she taught them an important lesson in a very courteous way.

If someone stepped on your feet by mistake, you would feel hurt and angry. What if he said, Sorry to you? Wouldn’t you then feel better?

We can show courtesy not only by what we say but also through our actions. We can give up our seat to an elderly person in a bus, just a Sweta did. We can allow someone to go ahead of us in a queue or even help someone cross the road.