A busy suburban railway station….people rushing past, to and fro…no one seems to have time, for themselves, for others.
No one notices how they are all trying to be on time while time is chiseling away their lives…cutting all of them in shape for a perfect death…
A young woman standing on the foot over bridge of this crowded suburban station, i-pod playing a classical tune, a sharp contrast to the mayhem around her…she is in no hurry, just standing on the bridge and watching the world go by..surprisingly unfettered by the pace of populace around her…immersed deeply in her music, almost in a world of her own.
A creased and wrinkled hand stretched out from a equally wrinkled fading sari, broke her reverie…
The young woman just stared back from her glares…thankful about them shading her actual emotions…
Hurriedly wanting to brush away the reminder of age…she thrust in all the pennies she had into that outstretched hand. The older woman smiled a sad smile and returned the coins…her act almost jolted the younger woman…”I don’t like to beg, you look like a film star…but don’t you see that I am ashamed of begging I just came to ask you if this train could take me to Aurangabad…I don’t have enough for the fare so I have to beg…”
“When I was young, they said, why do you need education, just give birth to a son and your life is done! Believe me I did just that…My son died last year, his wife…my daughter in law, threw me out of the house. A woman befriended me and got me here, last night I heard her say, the old woman can earn a lot, she evokes a lot of sympathy…It broke my heart…I was ashamed of myself, saddened that life has brought me on this threshold from where there is no return…I tell you old age is a damned thing…you just rot, waiting to die..no one, no one cares for you…stand up on your own feet, never fall for the demands the society makes on you…”
“Did you eat something?”
“just tea since the morning”
“Wait, just wait here for a while, will you?”
“Were you disgusted that a woman like me stood next to you for a while and spoke to you about my life? Are you running away? I don’t need money..I needed someone to listen to me…”
“Yes I understand…just wait a while please, I shall return”
“…….”
The young woman returned with eatables and a bottle of water…handed it to the older woman, smiled warmly and left…
It was time for her train to arrive….she mixed effortlessly in the crowd, while those old ,moist, worn out eyes followed her for a while…
