Dear Old Lady

There is something about these old ladies that takes me by surprise. I know one such special lady. She is one of my co-passengers in bus number 572, Secunderabad to Rajapet (Nalgonda), one of the district to district buses. She gets into the bus form the ECIL bus terminus and buys a ticket to Rajapet, the last stop of the bus. She mostly sits next to me and out of curiosity I once  happened to ask her how far Rajapet was. She told me that if she gets a bus at 7 in the evening from ECIL she would reach Rajapet comfortably by 10 pm. Comfortably one long journey!

This lady looks uneducated and she is. She looks like any other telugu village woman. An old cotton Sari (unstarched) tied so high that her ankles are clearly visible, a blouse that doesnt match the colour of the Sari, dishevelled white hair, a pair of very heavy gold earrings not taken off for a quarter of a century, no footwear and a walking stick is the best desription I can give of her.

One day I asked her about her earrings. She said her eldest son gifted it to her when he got married and she said that was about 30 years ago and she hasn't taken them off since then!! Those earrings are so heavy and big that they have made the piercings of her ears so big that my index finger can fit in them. This is no exaggeration. I asked her about her son. I was told that she has only 2 sons. "Only 2" because her siblings and cousins have 7 or 8 children each. I'm not surprised at all. I asked if her sons live in Rajapet. And the reply I got from her shocked me. She said Rajapet is where her husband's house is and he passed away even before her eldest son got married. 

That didnt shock me so much..... but the second part of her reply was... need to be patient to listen to it... Both her sons are highly educated. The elder one is a doctor and the younger one is from a profession that she doesn't know nor can explain. Both her sons are married and are settled. I was very impressed. A doctor! In Rajapet! I thought India is truly shinning. But the light faded when she continued by saying that they are settled abroad and it has been a long time since she last saw them or spoke to them. I asked her in which country are they and she said she didn't know. My next question was if they are in touch with her, does she get to talk to them. She said yes. They call at the local post office. Then she said they don't call often. Last time they called many years ago when the eldest son's wife gave birth. My old lady doesn't recollect how long ago it was and if the baby was a girl or a boy. 

My old lady is blind... she cannot see. I was filled with anger and shame when I realised that she lives alone. 

Now she has no idea how her sons and their families are. They don't call, don't write to her.

I get to sit beside her for only 15 to 20 minutes as my stop comes and I have to get off. I feel so bad leaving her alone but on the other hand I'm sure she's used the hard life by now. 

For me she is a very special old lady. I thought old people have lived their lives, been there and done that but I guess I was worng. Even in old age there is a lot to see, do and go through. 

Life seems to be one endless cycle and my old lady says never stop living. Hope and cheer in the heart helps you really live and love uncondtionally. There is lot to learn still. 

Happy living!! :D