International Woman's Day. Its everywhere. Its all over on Twitter, Facebook walls, News Papers, TV Channels, WhatsApp, the good old SMSs, emails and so on. Recognizing outstanding achievements of extraordinary women is in the air. I wonder why we need a special day to do this. However amidst this trending topic of the day, I have been thinking about two ladies, who I feel deserve a mention. Both of them represent real heroes and a true spirit of what a woman stands for in our society.
These two women are the domestic help that we have in our home. Nanda - a maid who does daily chores of cleaning, washing, dusting etc. And Kalpana- who cooks food for us. They deserve a mention not only because - they are excellent in their work, they are committed, trust worthy, take care of our kids like their own and have become part of our families since last 6 yrs - but because of their concealed mission. A mission to make their children educated, even though they themselves are hardly.
Both of them have seen extreme situations in life. Stayed in environments that we have only imagined and seen in Slum Dog Millionaires of the world. Have worked an average of 15 hrs a day, 7 days a week, from the age of 14 and still continue to do so after 3 or 4 decades. Their stories give goose bump to me even now. In such extreme situations, more often than not, it is so easy to take a short cut; get children earn some quick money by making them work. There are enough local shops, garages, restaurants, etc. ready to employ child labor in a city like Mumbai. Still, these two ladies, determined to educate their next generation, continued going through the grind that the life had put them though and came out with flying colors.
Children of both of these terrific women have either completed their graduation or are in the process of doing so. The life time efforts of these ladies have started to pay off. The graduate children have got decently paying permanent jobs in reputed companies. More importantly, the ladies did not differentiate between their sons and daughters and educated their daughters as well, passing on the mantle to them.
I can see tremendous sense of achievement each time they share the exam results of their children. Many times, they don’t even recollect and pronounce correctly the subjects their kid just cleared. But the sense of satisfaction abounds their faces. My guess is that the reason for their satisfaction is not only that their children achieved something they couldn't in life, or that their lifetime effort has paid off, but simply the fact that their next gen will not go through the same drudgery they had to go through in their life.
It is so true. Nanda and Kalpana are the examples of how a woman can make a difference to her family, if she is determined. The tremendous zeal within a woman can make her achieve impossible missions in spite of all the odds.
These two women are real heroes in their own life. I hope our society has many more Kalpanas and Nandas like these. My salute to these wonderful women.
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