Monday, July 26, 2010

Act of love

Many of the lessons in bonding I have learnt have come from unexpected quarters. My maids!! I should tell you this. My maid hails from a very small village. Her family was once upon a time very well to do with lots of land. However, over a period of time all that remained finally was just a small piece of land. Her father was a drunkard and in one of his drunken bouts he struck his wife who was hurt very badly. The impact left her bed ridden and it was after a very long time that she was able to manage to cook and do a little bit of household work. Her legs couldn't support her and she could only crawl.

In search of a better future, my maid came to Bangalore and started work. She was so very hard working that pretty soon she was able to rent a small room and get her sisters to join her. I should say all the sisters equally worked hard. My maid being the oldest among all (Oldest meaning she is now 18 or 19) was the one who managed the entire finance. Once they were able to put together some money they had collectively saved, the first thing they did was to rebuild their ancestral house in their village as it was in a very bad condition.

Next thing that my maid did was to bring her mother from the village and take her to an ayurvedic doctor to be treated. Though she used to work in almost six households she would rush back home to take her mother to the doctor regularly. She would buy whatever medicine the doctor would recommend and plus take her mother for therapy. Slowly after a long and slow process her mother started regaining sensation in her legs. From crawling she was able to walk one step at a time and slowly is now able to walk much more comfortably. During all this, the father and her brother absolutely did nothing in contributing either financially or otherwise. All that was done was collectively done by the daughters and specially my maid who meticulously planned out the whole thing. And that too at such a tender age shouldering the burden of the whole family. I was very touched. What a wonderful act of love. Here were a few souls who went beyond their needs and selflessly did their duty with so much of love. An act definitely worth emulating for all of us don't you think?

I would definitely love to hear from you if you have come across people who have been selfless in their acts.

5 comments:

Ravishankar said...

Thumbs Up...
In real life, i am just coming upon such an act of love for the first time...
i believe you did do your part... in all ways....( i know i dont have the right to say so but still...)

shobhana shenoy said...

Thanks Ravishankar,
When I hear some of the real life incidents I feel for every story of torture and inhuman acts meted out on fellow human beings there are equally more number of heart warming acts of humanity and humaneness. Guess that is how our earth still survives.

Ravishankar said...

yup :)

Unknown said...

DEAR SHOBHANA I AM HAPPY YOU AREDOING GOOD WORK. THIS WILL INSPIRE OTHERS. MANY PEOPLE HAVE SIMILAR STORIES/ INCIDENTS TO NARRATE WHICH ARESTRANGER THAN FICTION .THAT IS HOW LIFE SURVIVES INDICATING GOODNESS OF WORLD ARROUND US IN TIMES OF GLOOM

shobhana shenoy said...

Thanks Shyamala,
Yes there still seems to be a speck of light in this chaotic world of ours. Wish this speck grows into bigger and brighter ball of fire and illumine the world at large. Wouldn't that be wonderful?