Feeds

In the old house seated by the window, Watching the shadows play crisscross, I hear cheerful voices of my children, Chatting and clattering the plates, Aroma of hot soup making me hungry, Nostalgia of lost moments making me sad, Gone to the distant lands like birds of migration, While I slog here in the winter of my life , What stares me back is a solitary plate, When even she left for heavenly abode, Leaving behind thousand aches that plague.

Days,months, years passed in the household drudgery. There was no going back for Radha as hers was a love marriage. Her beauty and talent slowly died down in the huge joint family, where she was made to realise their greatness in accepting a girl of lower caste. “ Take this brat away.” When she heard her father-in-law shouting at her four year old, she decided to take the plunge. How could she let her child be insulted by his own people. She made up her mind to give him a dignified life all by herself.She walked out leaving them aghast.

I had never seen her talking . She never answered my constant queries. It irritated me .But I hadn’t learnt to ignore my students. I came to know that her mother worked as a domestic help in a house on the condition they would help her to study. Nice gesture,but in return even she was made to work on return from school .She lagged behind in her studies. She was terrified when I called her .When I promised to help her during the break she looked unbelievingly. She broke into a cheerful smile like sunshine appearing from parting clouds. 99 words