Of worship and Irony!

Rita lay on her bed- suffering from high fever.Barely able to stand up due to the weakness.
The negative aspect of living alone- you have to take care of yourself,in both thick and thin.
Somehow, she gathered the strength to reach for her handbag and take the prescribed dose of crocin.
"Never have paracetamol on an empty stomach", a voice from within reminded of her mothers' warning.
Without dilly dallying anymore, she got up from the bed, and headed straight to the kitchen- to have warm coffee and a toast.
There was leftover milk in the fridge- just one minute of wait, and coffee would soothe her paining throat.
As she clicked the lighter, no flame turned up- she calculated- 1 month since she had replaced the last cylinder. Gas cylinder needed to be changed.
Too much of an ask for a person whose body temperature touched 103.
She thought for a second, and halfheartedly, decided to ask her neighbors for help- they seemed to be good people, who always greeted her with a warm smile, especially in markets and public places.
Warming one cup of milk was no big favor, she convinced herself, before ringing their door bell.
After the second ring, the lady opened the wooden door, now looking at Rita through the mesh door.
"Yes, tell me?" she asked bluntly..the usual public smile was amiss.
"Aunty, i need a small favor from you." Rita informed, hoping the mesh door would be opened.
"Tell me?" the lady still did not bother to invite her inside.
"I am unwell, can you please warm this one cup of milk so that I can take medicine." Rita ignored the lack of respect showed to her, and informed the small favor she needed.
"I am doing worshipping right now. I will take atleast 1 more hour.I will contact you later." the lady replied, closing the door on Rita's face, to resume her bhajans- where she prayed to be made capable enough of being able to help the needy people...and praising Lord Krishna for the way he welcomed Sudaama to his palace.