Nice Saturday morning, cloudy day and i met the baays in Jayanagar, put coffee and came back and continued the saga of "keep off the grass". Karan Bajaj, ex-IIMB's book, lot of which I could relate to.
Then an ajji came home, an old withered up woman, chewing arecanut all the time. All skin and bone. She probably was good looking, may be even beautiful, when she was younger. But constant poverty, a harsh life and the never ending struggle to make ends meet had made her age, brought on so many wrinkles and removed the glow from her. The mother of five daughters, she offered to clean up the garden, which had grown till my waist, all for hundred and seventy rupees, a meal and probably a saree amma was willing to dispose off.
And she did this backbreaking work for some 4-5 hours. I ended up helping a bit, and within ten minutes I was sweating profusely. But she plodded on, told me men should not touch brooms and how I should not tell the girl I marry I help around as she will then not do anything. Wow! And finally in her own stylish way she said Byeee and wandered off.
But she left me thinking. For all that I say I know how comfortable I am and understand that people do not have money, something changed that Saturday. This old woman still worked so hard, sheer cold brutal manual labour, I dream of retiring at 35! And she still has the spirit left in her. She might not have the money or the luxury or the comfort. She is old and still works and has probably bought 5 new sarees in her whole lifetime. But she has the spirit. The spirit of that soul, life could not break and that is really the greatness of the soul; the spirit never breaks. You burden it, you give the maximum trouble possible, but it still floats up and gives you the chances ot laugh, like this old lady did when she said her byeee! God bless her, may be he has, because in spite of the troubles he gave her and not me, she did not seem particularly sadder than me.
Then an ajji came home, an old withered up woman, chewing arecanut all the time. All skin and bone. She probably was good looking, may be even beautiful, when she was younger. But constant poverty, a harsh life and the never ending struggle to make ends meet had made her age, brought on so many wrinkles and removed the glow from her. The mother of five daughters, she offered to clean up the garden, which had grown till my waist, all for hundred and seventy rupees, a meal and probably a saree amma was willing to dispose off.
And she did this backbreaking work for some 4-5 hours. I ended up helping a bit, and within ten minutes I was sweating profusely. But she plodded on, told me men should not touch brooms and how I should not tell the girl I marry I help around as she will then not do anything. Wow! And finally in her own stylish way she said Byeee and wandered off.
But she left me thinking. For all that I say I know how comfortable I am and understand that people do not have money, something changed that Saturday. This old woman still worked so hard, sheer cold brutal manual labour, I dream of retiring at 35! And she still has the spirit left in her. She might not have the money or the luxury or the comfort. She is old and still works and has probably bought 5 new sarees in her whole lifetime. But she has the spirit. The spirit of that soul, life could not break and that is really the greatness of the soul; the spirit never breaks. You burden it, you give the maximum trouble possible, but it still floats up and gives you the chances ot laugh, like this old lady did when she said her byeee! God bless her, may be he has, because in spite of the troubles he gave her and not me, she did not seem particularly sadder than me.
