A COMPANY TO KEEP

On my way to work every day, I see a lot of things.  Being quite early in the morning, it is a time when you can observe slightly more without the hustle and bustle as the day proceeds.  I happen to see an old woman with ragged clothes sitting on the divider that is supposed to divide the roads.  It seems the day has just begun for her. It can be made out from her clothes and appearance that she would depend on the passersby for food and money to drag through her day.  Her belongings are scarce, a jute sack (one which is used to store rice, wheat, etc) that probably works as her mattress during the night, a small cloth bag which contains what is a mystery, a small aluminum plate that has lost its shape and a dog for her company.  This is a scene I see every day on my way to work.  The both of them sitting and probably waiting for the day to proceed. On one occasion, I happened to see that she held a packet of biscuits in her hand.  Important to mention here, the packet is a small one and the biscuits would be just enough to satisfy her hunger.  However, she shares it with the little animal and both of them have their share as allocated by God for the day. This was a regular scene and I saw the duo everyday as I went to work. Their life goes on as it has to.  No great progress but no declines either.  It was a ritual now for me to watch them when I go to work.  However, recently after switching my job, my route has changed, and I miss the sight of the pair.  I remember them every day as I get in to my car expecting them to have touched more lives.

To give when you have plenty is easy but to share when you have none is difficult.  This one small visual that I witnessed just passing by the two beings did raise a thousand questions in my mind.  How did she part with her so-little source of food when there is hardly hope for more?  Is she so optimistic that she knows there will be some way out?  How come she has not left hope even at this juncture of her life and we abandon hope at just small failures or despair? 

The answers are for us to think upon, but she did teach me Attitude of Gratitude.  She did teach me in a fraction of seconds to be thankful for all that I have.  If she can be content and happy in the situation she is in today, gratitude is a small word for most of us reading this post right now.

Regards

SRN