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Humane Soul

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. 

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