In our life, there are few days that you would always cherish, few moments that leave a lasting impression. There will also be some of those days which you would feel that should not have been a part of your life, some hardships which you faced and felt that you don’t deserve them. But seldom do we realize that most of our lessons and experience actually comes from these hardships and not when we are laying on the bed of roses. And above all these, sometimes we learn a lot by mere observation and thinking about it deep within. Most of my lessons I learnt, values I inculcated was by observing people around me. How they lived, what they thought, how they carried themselves through good and bad times. One can never say that you have learnt all and know all, because as you go on meeting new people, new stories of their life unfolds in front of you and sometimes there life also influences you directly or indirectly.
I also had a similar phase, where I did not like the way my life was shaping up, because I did not like the place where we stayed, I did not like the school I studied, and many more. I hardly realized that most of my values and thoughts were a direct output of those bad times we had. Yes, I know it is easy to always look at sorrow in poetic admiration and has certain romanticism attached to it and especially when you are not having one. But I don’t admire the bad time of my life, I only acknowledge the lessons it has taught me.
Apart from my family, there have been some more people whom I actually saw (did not interact much though) and did not realize that they would still remain in my thoughts even after years of moving away from the place of stay. We had a Tailor Didi in our neighborhood and we used to give some of our clothes to her for stitching. She was not alone; she had 3 other sisters, and a window mother to take care of. The youngest sister went to a Government school to study and rest others did the stitching and ran the household. They were in a difficult situation with respect to the economics. They did not have enough money to buy some space for a shop of their own. They used to get the clothes from other tailors and stitch and give it back to them. They used to socialize and come and tell the neighbors to give them for anything that they wanted to get stitched.
The family consisted of 4 girls, an aged mother and father. Each of them contributing their part to run the household and taking care of ailing parents. The youngest girl who went to school used to deliver the stitched clothes and collect the money from houses, the other 2 daughters used to stitch the clothes and take care of household. The Tailor Didi used to go to the shops and collect the clothes to be stitched and come home and start her stitching work. Their house was a small one, the rooms were so small that hardly one could place any furniture and sit, but they managed to stay there. They toiled hard, day and night to make the ends meet. Among the four daughters, 3 of them were of marriageable age and hence it was understandable when the Tailor Didi’s mother complained that she was unable to arrange for their marriage. But the fact that really touched me was to see how these daughters ran the household with a small business set off from their home; with the aspiration of making a decent living was the one that drove them. You could see them sometimes fight for their right in the queue for water in front of those borewells not because they loved doing it, but it was a necessity and they had to do it to get what they deserved. Amidst all these hardships they still kept a smiling face. The world is a difficult place to live, if you don’t know how to stand for your rights and fight for them. They did exactly that and at times I used to wonder how did they get so much courage and self belief to fight out these circumstances, I came to know only later that circumstances in life teaches you and you grow with them.
Today after 11 years of having seen their struggle I feel so happy to see a small shop that they have bought in the main road and the efficiency with which they carry out their business.It’s heartening to see that one of them is now married and youngest one is completing her class 12th exams. I feel an immense sense of love for life where the human spirit knows to fight against all odds and create a place for them in the world solely by their hard work. No matter how small it is and how insignificant it may be to the world, one can always feel a sense of accomplishment after having achieved the smallest of their dreams past a long hard struggle.
My best wishes for this family that did not deter in their courage / patience in the fight.
I hope I learn from them and face world and all the challenges with a brave face.
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