The one in the crowd.
It's platform number 4 of the erstwhile V.T station. The time is 6:00 p.m. Its that time of the day on this platform when ants dread to step out. The platform is brimming over with people.
Lost in the crowd you get to see that tired face. A face twisted in fatigue,with eyes hidden behind glasses and matted hair. Its evident that she has had a long day.
The train pulls and the crowds surge in like a mighty river in flood. You dont have to make an effort to enter, you are swept along. The lady follows suit. Her eyes search for the magical, fast depleting empty seat. Just as she is about to take one, a lady with a child in her arms steps forward. The mother that she is, she gives away the only seat. She knows what it feels like. Her children, luckily, are being taken care of by her mother-in-law. The elder one is all of two years old. The younger one is just 2 months old. Yet, like a lioness, she too has too work for her food. She blesses her mother-in-law for her generosity.
Ah! Her mother-in-law! The same woman who refused to let her son marry her if her father did not cough up 50,000 on her wedding day. Memories come flowing back of that eventful night when she bade farewell to her home. She forgets the constant bickering and badgering that she has to undergo for getting her MIL to take care of her children. Sometimes, she does feel like giving her a earful, but protocol steps in. She has even forgotten how she would never equate to her sister-in-law, irrespective of whether she is the on who would run with her husband's father to the hospital when he is sick and her SIL would make only a cursory appearance to shed a few tears. There is no memory of the fact that it was her that evreyone consults and not her own husband in family matters. The stepmotherly she feels might even be justified; after all she is the Daughter-in-law and not the Daughter.
Despite this, her mind is apathetic towards the sheer indifference shown by her better half. He knows all, and loves her very much, but is a silent spectator. When she asks him to stand for her, all he says is, "Its between the two of you. Say what you want to her." The perfect male reaction-realizing its best not to get in between two women. He too is going through his own travails and she has stopped pressing him. After all, she thinks, "He is the father of my children."
Stations pass by with her being oblivious to the crowd flitting in and out like a swarm of bees that are hunting down nectar. Realizing then that its her stop next, she goes to the exit. The station comes and the reverse routine she did at V.T ensues. The lady disappears into the crowd again.
I know, shall see her again tomorrow, on this very train. But then, today is womens day. A day to celebrate the empowerment of women. And the ideal celebration would be raising a toast to the working woman in Bombay. Cheers, ladies and congratulations. You may not make it to page 3 but a way to everyones heart who knows you, that I assure you, you shall find.
Happy Womens Day!!!
Lost in the crowd you get to see that tired face. A face twisted in fatigue,with eyes hidden behind glasses and matted hair. Its evident that she has had a long day.
The train pulls and the crowds surge in like a mighty river in flood. You dont have to make an effort to enter, you are swept along. The lady follows suit. Her eyes search for the magical, fast depleting empty seat. Just as she is about to take one, a lady with a child in her arms steps forward. The mother that she is, she gives away the only seat. She knows what it feels like. Her children, luckily, are being taken care of by her mother-in-law. The elder one is all of two years old. The younger one is just 2 months old. Yet, like a lioness, she too has too work for her food. She blesses her mother-in-law for her generosity.
Ah! Her mother-in-law! The same woman who refused to let her son marry her if her father did not cough up 50,000 on her wedding day. Memories come flowing back of that eventful night when she bade farewell to her home. She forgets the constant bickering and badgering that she has to undergo for getting her MIL to take care of her children. Sometimes, she does feel like giving her a earful, but protocol steps in. She has even forgotten how she would never equate to her sister-in-law, irrespective of whether she is the on who would run with her husband's father to the hospital when he is sick and her SIL would make only a cursory appearance to shed a few tears. There is no memory of the fact that it was her that evreyone consults and not her own husband in family matters. The stepmotherly she feels might even be justified; after all she is the Daughter-in-law and not the Daughter.
Despite this, her mind is apathetic towards the sheer indifference shown by her better half. He knows all, and loves her very much, but is a silent spectator. When she asks him to stand for her, all he says is, "Its between the two of you. Say what you want to her." The perfect male reaction-realizing its best not to get in between two women. He too is going through his own travails and she has stopped pressing him. After all, she thinks, "He is the father of my children."
Stations pass by with her being oblivious to the crowd flitting in and out like a swarm of bees that are hunting down nectar. Realizing then that its her stop next, she goes to the exit. The station comes and the reverse routine she did at V.T ensues. The lady disappears into the crowd again.
I know, shall see her again tomorrow, on this very train. But then, today is womens day. A day to celebrate the empowerment of women. And the ideal celebration would be raising a toast to the working woman in Bombay. Cheers, ladies and congratulations. You may not make it to page 3 but a way to everyones heart who knows you, that I assure you, you shall find.
Happy Womens Day!!!
posted by Sunil Natraj at 3/10/2005 07:33:00 AM
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