It has been a long time since I last claimed my own space.Had nothing in my mind to share and I am hopeless when it comes to forcing myself to write.I met an elderly lady as I traveled last month and my brief interaction with that gutsy lady has given me enough inspiration ,to last a long long time if not a lifetime.I translate in my humble words what she spoke in rural Marathi language.As she narrated her life story to me, I fumbled with my responses while she had no dearth of words or expressions to drive home her point. Wish I had jotted down her poetic expressions in her own words at that time.My urban education paled in comparison to hers .She did not have to repeat the oft told-Life is the biggest school and experience, biggest teacher .
She was married in her teens to a family of fifteen.What was expected of her,she hardly knew.What makes a husband ,she had no clue.
She did her best to go with the flow,for her mother took to bed and the father was no more.This be your family or so she was told,why it never felt like one she often thought so.
She was caught in a whirlwind as years turned decades .Staying up late to get up at dawn ,she hardly slept as her own world took rest.
Four kids in succession, people frowned .She had no say in that ...did that count ?
He, who once walked her around the holy fire, never cared to match her steps ever after.
She wanted wings, he chose solitude.
She wanted to sing, he hardly spoke.
She yearned to travel,he tied her down.
Calm she stayed and retained her nerves. Her spirits still high, waiting to soar...she added years a few more.
Never a fight ,hardly an argument and sixty long years of co existence .An ideal couple, people said .What a marriage it was ,they all admired !
Age caught up faster with him,than he thought.Birds of the nest , all soon flew.Left behind in silence were these two.
She found her voice one day , as she felt being 'heard'.
Now,she talks as he listens..
she sings as he applauds..
and she travels as he trails...
One who left her no choice is himself left with none.
As she guides him across the life- roads ,his gnarled hands entwined ..she thinks of the ties that did nothing but bind.
Life is one full circle,in the name of a knot ...she just lived each day for the sake of the knot.
She was married in her teens to a family of fifteen.What was expected of her,she hardly knew.What makes a husband ,she had no clue.
She did her best to go with the flow,for her mother took to bed and the father was no more.This be your family or so she was told,why it never felt like one she often thought so.
She was caught in a whirlwind as years turned decades .Staying up late to get up at dawn ,she hardly slept as her own world took rest.
Four kids in succession, people frowned .She had no say in that ...did that count ?
He, who once walked her around the holy fire, never cared to match her steps ever after.
She wanted wings, he chose solitude.
She wanted to sing, he hardly spoke.
She yearned to travel,he tied her down.
Calm she stayed and retained her nerves. Her spirits still high, waiting to soar...she added years a few more.
Never a fight ,hardly an argument and sixty long years of co existence .An ideal couple, people said .What a marriage it was ,they all admired !
Age caught up faster with him,than he thought.Birds of the nest , all soon flew.Left behind in silence were these two.
She found her voice one day , as she felt being 'heard'.
Now,she talks as he listens..
she sings as he applauds..
and she travels as he trails...
One who left her no choice is himself left with none.
As she guides him across the life- roads ,his gnarled hands entwined ..she thinks of the ties that did nothing but bind.
Life is one full circle,in the name of a knot ...she just lived each day for the sake of the knot.
