AKS

Have you ever met complete strangers who you seem to have struck a chord with! Out of blue they have arrived in your life and added a certain amount of value to it! Well I am writing about three such women that have touched me in a way or two in minimal interactions.
Everyday, I walk towards my Bus-stop. On my way just opposite the Ganesha Temple sits an old lady. She is very clean and fair. She always dons a nine yard saree in gay colors which comes upto her knees. She seldom has a woolen Shawl draped around her. She has a design of green tattoos on her face. Her wrinkled face always greets me with a warm smile. Everyday she asks me the same question of what time is it. Occasionally adding a sentence or two about how pleasant the weather is or if I am running late and whether I will be able to catch my bus. I always have this underpinning feeling that she wants to talk much more but since I am in a hurry to rush for my work, I do not have time for her at all. On a couple of Sundays I have tried to locate her but have never found her sitting there. It’s strange how pleasant you feel when you look at her, she sits just opposite the temple soaking in the morning sun. She is exceptionally radiant and looks like a guardian angle to me.

Many times in a week I come across this another middle aged lady. She is very lean, wears a 5 yard saree and below it she wears sports shoes. She keeps on running from place to place. She always greets me with a hello and communicates with me. The other day she saw me gawking at her sports shoes and gave an unwarranted explanation, she told me that she works as a cook in several households and morning time is generally the time that she has to run from house to house and prefers wearing these shoes. She wears pastel colored flimsy chiffon sarees along with a floral purple scarf wrapped neatly around her head. She sports a dark line of kohl under her eyes and puts a thick layer of face powder on her wrinkled face. She always enquires about me, my health, where I live and what I do. She is very friendly and we end up chit-chatting about sweet nothings while we walk together to the Bus Stop. I know from her talks that she is a lonely woman who works very hard to make both the ends meet. I like her a lot because I respect the fact that she personifies a strong sense of individuality.

One Sunday morning while I was on my regular walks to Parvati, I decided to take a halt at the Smabhaji Udyan. I spent some 20 odd mins, sitting on a bench there just observing people. Soon every body made a big circle and started a laughing club. I had never seen one before and watching all of them( All between the age group of 10 – 80) dance, twirl, put their hands up in the air and laugh like no body watched had me in splits. An old lady who could barely walk was escorted towards the group, she inched towards them with the help of a walking stand. She stood there all the time and had a ball of her time. I really felt huge gratitude towards her. At her age and condition she was making most of her remaining life. I felt a dire need to walk up to her and strike a communication with her. So once her laughing club was over I purposely walked beside her and greeted her Good Morning! She kept looking back at me and in a mini-second reverted my greetings! I am sure she must have tried hard recollecting whether she knew me. I was just happy that I came to know someone who had such a huge appetite for life.

There are people around us who are special in their own way! Who can inspire us and bring some kind of joy to our life! All we got to do is just look around, find them and learn from them!