Her Last Days

It was a tall building, tall even for this metro. It must have been tallest building in the town when it was built. Mana stared at the building from across the road, which separated the building from the park, just behind her. She had lost count of years she had spent working in this building. It seemed she had left her village only yesterday for this metro. Of course, she knew that she must have spent a few decades working in this building. She had been lucky to find work here.

The wrinkles on her face told her that she was old. Her employers were a few years older than her. As they grew old, their children had taken them away with them. She came to know that the flat had been sold to someone else. The new owners had, however, no use of Mana’s services. She had been given some money by her former employers while they were leaving. That had lasted her for some time.

A time was there when she had a family, even children, but the time and distance had taken them all away from her. She was alone in the big city. Since her family had been lost in sands of time, she had been staying with a family, not far from this place. They had given her a room attached to the main house for living, however, she had to do their household chores in return. She received no wages from them. The flat owners of this building gave her enough money to meet her meagre monetary needs.

The loss of steady income combined with age had made her unwanted even in the place she was staying. They had been giving enough hints that she was not wanted in their household. They needed some younger servant. Since they had yet to identify some suitable maid, she had managed to cling to the room.

With most of the doors closing on her, she had decided to go back to her village. But none of the next generation was willing to accept her. The earlier generation of her family members had all disappeared with time. Even in the village not many recognised her. She understood that she was not welcome in the house she was born in. So it was back to metro. When she returned, she came to know that her room had already been occupied by the new maid. Suddenly she found herself homeless.

Having burnt bridges in her village, she had nowhere to go. Illness had not taken long time in coming, like an uninvited guest. She had started sitting by the side of park and staring at the building which had been her daytime home for many years. Sometimes she walked aimlessly in the streets and came back to the same spot.

She had seen pavement dwellers living by the roadside just opposite this building next to the park railing. Since she had nowhere else go, she occupied a place next to them. Luckily for her, none of them objected to her being there. Probably they had seen her going into the building many a time.

It had only been a fortnight, yet it appeared as if eons have passed. Her body had become week. She was not sure if it was due to illness or not getting enough food. She had no money to buy food. She was still able to get something to eat once in a while from the strangers who passed on the road.

Although she had not been to the doctor, she was quite certain that her days were numbered. Fever combined with hunger was always lethal. She could not have afforded the doctor’s fees. Even if she had been able to afford the fees, she still won’t have gone to doctor. It would have been wastage of time and money.

A kindly guard from the building also offered food to her once in a while. From across the road she had seen many of her employers’ friends coming out or going in. She had tried to work up the courage to ask them for some work or help, but something always stopped her. Perhaps it was her loyalty to her previous employers which stopped her from seeking help. She wondered if her employers would come to visit somebody in the building. However, it never happened.

Her relations with her employers had never been very informal, yet they had been kind to her and treated her reasonably well. She was surprised to have so fond memories of them. Many small acts of kindness came to her mind. She wondered if it was probable that they would come looking for her. Perhaps that was the expectation in her subconscious mind which made her sit outside park. She could see the gate of the building clearly from this point.

Sometimes she got to get some undisturbed sleep on the park bench during nights. More often than not, she would be woken up and asked to leave the park by security personnel. She had observed that even they had stopped coming near her during the past few days. It gave her some solace that she was not disturbed during night. At the same time, it was possible that they had seen what was coming to her and maintained safe distance from her.

She had saved a few biscuits given to her, but she could not afford to eat more than one a day. Luckily water was not an issue. There was a water tap in the park.

No one had visited her in the last few days, not even the friendly security guard.

….

The guard had taken one week off. As soon as he came on duty, his eyes searched for Mana. He saw the people squatting on the opposite side next to park. She was not there. However, he saw a small crowd gathered around a place a little distance away. He walked up to the crowd. As he looked, he saw that crowd was gathered around a body. it was the same maid, Mana.

He quietly walked back to the gate and stood guard. The sun had just set and his shift had already started.