Of a walk across the road...

I usually don't go for narratives, since what’s interesting in my life could be and must be incredibly boring for someone else, but this incident has stayed in my mind for the last two days and i just had to write about it.

We decided it was time we had nice fish fries and fish curry for lunch that afternoon and started on our quest. The car's Air Conditioner wheezed, trying to suck out all that heat from within and not being very successful at it. It was when i was adjusting the vent of the AC that i saw her, an old lady not more than a little bundle of bones, sitting on a very busy intersection, reaching out to the sea of people walking around her, in a silent plea to help her cross the road. People hurrying along around her took little notice and some of them misunderstood her gestures as that of begging, which wasn't a big mistake since that’s what she was, a roadside beggar. Some dropped a few coins and some patted their pockets to demonstrate that they didn't have change, she was steadfastly taking in the money, putting them in her dirty yellow bag all the while gesturing for one of them to help her cross the road. I rushed out of the car, over to her side and asked her if she wanted to cross the road, that poor dear could only nod and raise her feeble hand.

I held her coarse hand and she heaved her frail body up, with her back bent she managed to move when i told her it was ok to do so. All this while i could see her struggling, we make slow progress as cars and other vehicles now wait for her to move across. My mind was debating whether I should carry her but her grip was strong and the walk determined though feeble. After what seemed to be an hour, while i think only 10 minutes elapsed, we reach the other side. I sit her at this new intersection under a tree, a brief respite from the unbearable heat. As she settles down she gently waves me away, i give her some money and that was the first time she looks at me, a feeble thank you was uttered and she gave me a slight smile. I knelt in front of her and I asked her where she wanted to go, she pointed across a larger road, i gaped and then collecting myself I asked her if I could take her across, she just shook her small head and said "I’ll go after a few days", Tamil is a funny language i think that’s what she said, she might have meant that she would go after awhile too.

Where was she going at 1:30 PM, this frail old woman? What was so important? What would she do in this incredibly hot sun? Does she have a family or a shelter? I wondered. Yet, she seemed to have her destination in her mind. All she had in the world seemed to be in her dirty little yellow bag. I walked away from her as she waved me away, not knowing what to do, feeling that i had let her down somehow by being clueless.

Farewell my fellow traveler, i hope you reach your destination, i hope you find your shelter. We live in a country where we care little for our seniors; there are many of your age ignored by us, walking resolutely with just their pride and a little bag. I belong to the kind who drive our cars and shield our eyes and think that all is well with the world. You took that shield away that day and made me see things for what they are.