Way back in the year 1991 I got
married and had to move to Mumbai where my husband was employed . I was brought up in the laid back city of Hyderabad experiencing the joyfulness of living. Neighbours and friends believed I
was fortunate to shift to Mumbai which was then Bombay
as they considered it was a city which could alter dreams into veracity .I
never liked Bombay
because of the multitude and grime regardless of the fact that we were in this
world for ten whole years. Within a month on reaching there I started working
at St’Francis school Vasai in the western suburbs of Mumbai. We were residing
near Vasai at Nallasopara in one of my husband’s cousin’s flat which had been
bought by him as an investment. The flat was located away from the station in a scenic
spot with mountains and a small pond too. Commuting to Vasai meant boarding the
early morning train which was at 6.45 am as we had to be in the school before
7.10 a.m. Eight of us working for this school boarded this train everyday along
with the fisher women and many other teachers from various other schools at
different places in Mumbai.Since we had to travel barely till the next station which
was five minutes away we would be standing adjacent to the doorway. There were many
fisher women too who would threaten us with the foul smelling water in their
baskets, a drop of it would mean carrying a stink through out the day. Hence we
would try our best to move away from them. There were ladies who would carry
huge logs of wood too. Rest of the crowd would silently watch them. The
fisher women wore chunky gold chains and earrings and their saris were worn in
typical kohli style. Many a times we would wonder whether they needed to work
as they were laden with gold. They would capture the fishes from the beaches of Kalam and
Arnala in Nallasopara and Virar respectively and sell them in Mumbai .We were
young and energetic and so would like hanging out of the doorways. To irritate
these ladies we would speak in Hinglish , a mixture of English and Hindi and
look at them with disgust portraying our superiority.This had been a routine for many days. One day my
friend accidentally slid and was about to be thrown out of the local train ,she
suddenly found a strong muscular hand pull her in. It was one of the
fisher women who acted on time which would have resulted in a calamity
otherwise. We were spell bound but our silence spoke for us. We understood that
humanity is not a coveted property but
compassion and consideration for a
fellow being doesn’t need sophistication.
“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” ― Mother Teresa ‘ A ayi ’ refers to m other in Marathi, but Lakshmi had graduated from a mother, to a grandmother. Her daughter and her grandchildren loved calling her ‘Aayi’ in Konkani. She was a native of the lush green Konkan. Aayi began her life with ‘ abu ’ Jagannath in the city of warangal in Andhra Pradesh. She was a tall, healthy lady and Jaggnath a good looking, lean and handsome man. Together they made a handsome couple not only looks wis e, but also mannerism wise. Lakshmi’s family was a large one consisting of seven sisters and the youngest one was the much awaited sibling brother. Her parents were ecstatic over the birth of a boy after seven sisters. The sisters treasured their kid brother. Lakshmi and her sisters got married early owing to the social norms and customs. Lakshmi was blessed with a daughter and a son. The daughter was a replica of Jagannath, the same chisel...
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