Little Kindness

Tia was sitting on the swing and thinking about her life in the city. The cacophony of the vehicles, the treeless streets where buildings were glued to each other without any space between them. The little patch of greenery which they called the park was open only in the mornings and evenings. Neighbors are mere acquaintances though living at the same place year after year with familiar faces however still strangers.

Someone knocked at the gate as a consequence Tia was ushered to the present. It was an old woman calling out to Tia's grandmother. She was fragile and frail, dry skin on bones, hair salt, and pepper, were a blue saree that was dusty and torn at places. She carried a cloth bag hanging from her left shoulder, a big bronze bowl in the right one, few green bangles in her wrists, a pair of old slippers in her feet.

Grandmother came out of the house, waved her hand at the old woman to wait. In a while came out with a big plate filled with rice, lentils, some vegetables along with a small bottle of cooking oil. Additionally, put all of it into the old woman's bag. The old woman thanked the grandmother and went on to knock another door.

An amazed Tia's mind was running wild, grandmother sat near her smiling. Tia confessed, " I have never seen such thing, who was that woman? Why were you so generous to give her so much?" Grandmother replied, "It's a practice followed in our village, it's a way of helping the needy." Tia still confused said, "She is old now, why doesn't stay at old age home". The grandmother replied, "There is no such facility in the village, it seemed right to help fellow villagers in distress".

Grandmother further continued when the woman was young she had a lovely family of husband and two kids in addition to worked hard in people's fields and got a share as a reward. One day her husband and kids had gone to a town fair while returning their bus met with an accident as well they all died on the spot. Villagers helped her perform the last rites. She thanked all from her soul deep inside, worked in the fields, at people's houses, at the temple, cleaned the village road's till owed no debt.

However after all these years of backbreaking work, she is old now, it's time for the villagers to thank her for all the help. She stays in a small hut near the temple, cleans the premises, waters the plants, draws rangolis, cleans the village roads. Moreover, every day she goes to a different street of the village and is given food along with some money, on festivals a new set of clothes as well as household supplies from the temple trust. Her void is filled, her stomach too. She has come from a blunt ache to smile, mourning the presence of absence to hopeful days.

Tia was full of admiration for the village tradition of little kindness cooperating with each other in hard times assisting in surviving in a broken time of one's life.