Learning of Life || Tindit India ||

 Author - Divya Mishra

This is the incidence of during countrywide lockdown. For few days, I was watching an old lady staying at a platform under the shelter of a closed shop, (the shop is not closed under the influence of Novel Corona, but it's in the same situation since last Oct 19) in the front of one of the closed gates of our colony. In her belongings, I could only see a few plastic bottles of different colors & sizes and two partially filled big plastic packets. I used to wonder (only) what and how she could find her food? why she is alone here? where does she go for the washroom? My brain interrupted me with the excuse, she is a Tamil. How could you ask and understand her problem? This way I got an escape.

But yesterday, when I saw the gathering of humans at Bandra station, ignoring all safety measures, with the eager to go back their home for the reason that they have no food to further survive. A lot of other relevant questions were going to be raised by the news anchor, but unanswered. In the meanwhile, without my awareness this "FOOD" had fired somewhere within me.

In the morning, when I was making my mind to prepare breakfast, suddenly the picture of an old lady in dirty white saree with her colourful bottle sitting in front of a closed Shutter strike in my mind. I went down and checked whether she is still there or not? She was there lying down at platform. This time, I didn't let my brain to interrupt and make my mind what to do next. This is the first time when while preparing 'Roti', I was feeling happy and thanking to Archita for giving me valuable suggestion how to make good Roti. Otherwise, it may be painful for that lady to chew and digest 'my Roties'. I divided the curry in three parts and packed one. while wrapping four Roties in aluminium foil, a thought stroke in my brain, 'I'm at the land of Rice Lovers' and all efforts seem now worthless. But again, there was my mind, it convinced me, a hungry person seeks for food not for items. I reached to the colony gate with tiffin in my hand and mask over mouth.

When only few steps left to reach to the lady, I saw her engaged with a plate. (lesson of the day waiting to be taught) She was eating Pongal. A mixed kind of feelings were in my brain. I reached to her and asked "Amma Sapadachha?" (did you have your food?). At the blink of eyes, she noticed lunch box in my hand and replied immediately, "enna maa" (what) "just this only (here I didn't get her short & quick Tamil banter, but got her expression)"; She showed me her food plate with the expression that she is not liking whatever she is having. And obviously, this pretention was only not to lose the food packet brought to her. I handed over the box to her and about to be back. then I heard her faint voice " Neeng Sapadachha?" (did you have food?). I was surprised. Once our Basin Manager told us about this etiquette of Chennai people and I experienced it in my office also. But haven't expected here. As I haven't had breakfast, so I gave a mixed expression only. then I heard, "Enna Sapada" (what food) "pongala?" (A south Indian dish made of rice; this is what she was already having) she asked indicating to the box. I told chapati & curry and left with the feeling that it was good I didn't bring Rice.

As I entered in the colony and proceeding towards my building, I make a look at her through the boundary. the pack of roti was there in her hand, she kept that aside safely. I felt there was a smile on my face. I walked few steps towards the boundary then seems me that she was looking at another packet of aluminium foil, then she crumbled the foil and threw it on the road-side. There was no trace of smile left on my face. I felt bad in my heart first by the thought of throwing the curry and second by thrown along roadside which has already been swept. Suddenly that poor lady was seeming me as a selfish person who takes everything for granted. one thing was true, she has thrown the foil on the road. But was it be thrown with curry or after emptying it in her plate? To make it certain my brain led me to the gate through which I used to see her. This time she has something in a card foam bowl from which she was separating unwanted thing and throwing on the roadside. I was trying to figure it out, in the mean-time a bike stopped there. The biker got down, handed over her two average size Bananas (the reason behind mentioning the banana size is availability of three different sized banana here in Chennai, the half dozen banana of smallest size is equivalent to one of the big sizes) and left. When I saw banana, I remembered the two banana (smallest size) I kept for her in the room.

Without giving any further look at the old lady, I returned to my flat with three thoughtful lessons.

•       Language is not a barrier in our work or communication but just a medium. In our Indian Culture, all languages have the same origin, have the same mother language. Hence, emotion and language are what tie us all together.
•   The world is not devoid of Good personals.
•  While doing charity, the attitude of Giver should not come in our mind.