Sermonise or Accomplish

Scenic Durga Tekdi

We lived in Siddhivinayak Nagar near Appu Ghar at Nigdi in Pune for eleven years. The area happens to fall in the cantonment area of Dehu Road and has been leased for ninety nine years I believe.It was beautiful to be close to nature after our stay in the concrete jungles of Mumbai . We were living in a row house which is a lot similar to an apartment with common walls but stands apart due to the garden area ,terrace and a first floor like a duplex.Our colony turned out to be the last one in that area and our backyard was the prohibited area of Durga Tekdi an artificial forest built on the ghats by philanthropists who watered fast growing silver oaks and cared for it to make it the most exquisite walking area of nearly two and half kilometers uphill. We led a very contented and peaceful life in the area with merely a scarcity of water haunting our peace. Finally our house owner agreed to get an underground water tank dug so that in dire scarcity we could get a tanker of water and fill the tank and use it for a week.The work had begun and three lorries of earth had been dug out which had to be cleared. All of a sudden my multiple fibrosis landed me in the hospital and on coming back I was weak physically and psychologically as I had lost my father a few months back. On the Dhanteras my neighbour came home and curtly asked me to get the sand removed as it was causing havoc flying all over the place. With a great deal of intricacy I called a few manual workers as my husband was busy.Late in the evening two burly workers came along and my first reaction was to yell at them and transfer my neighbours annoyance.The workers were strong but wore torn clothes and looked at me apologetically and said "hame kya diwali aur kya eid" a lorry wasn't available and so the work got delayed." Hearing all this commotion my fourteen year son who was studying upstairs came down . He looked at me disdainfully and said ''mummy utterance of this kind is contradictory to the values of politeness and love for the poor" For a moment i felt humiliated but recognised that its easy sermonizing but the most difficult observing what one has preached, I had learnt the most valuable lesson that day.

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