Thursday, 23 February 2012

Wings... Flying High


Wings... Flying High

Some times her eyes appear blank, and lethargic too. It makes me guilty. She, more than a friend to me, was not like that until she was thrown into an unwanted married life.
I have to use words like ‘unwanted’ or ‘unnecessary’ to describe her marriage.
Because it was so...

She had to be the victim of the conventional outlook of marriage; a girl has to be married off in her twenties itself, about a decade ago. Everyone including herself knew that the man she was going to marry was not at all of her wavelength at any point.

Yet, she had to.

She had to because she was too naïve and loving to hurt her parents, relatives and friends.
Her parents, with their limited financial background, couldn’t ‘buy’ a man of her aptitude or calibre. They were helpless indeed.

She, an ardent lover of literature and writing, stood bewildered at the hard phases of life. She began to know that life was not a beautiful love story she used to read.
Her story is not complete yet, as she is on the threshold of a divorce.

It’s true, marriage and motherhood make a woman complete.

No doubt about that.

But is there any point in marrying off girls just for the sake of a conventional unwritten rule or to complete a parental duty before they are prepared for a married life?

I think, no.

In our society, by the time when girls step in their early twenties, the parents begin to face questions about their marriage. No wonder, they become anxious about daughters. Three things appear before them, higher education, job and marriage. In most cases, marriage weighs more and parents go for it. They do not even bother if their child is mature enough for a nuptial knot. But have to admit one thing; there is a noticeable change in the attitude within the last decade.

Daughters are precious; everyone knows.

But at the same time, they are the weightless baggage for their parents.
Though weightless, they have to be kept somewhere safely.

The duty of parenthood…

It’s despairing indeed, no one thinks about the sacrifice the girls are doing to make their parents and society happy.
  
Let them too have a role in their life, at least in deciding the right time for their marriages. Be it at twenties...thirties…forties.

One of my friends, in her mid thirties, is still unmarried. I couldn’t find any shadows of regret in her eyes yet. She hasn’t told anyone the reason behind and she seems to be happy with her life. When I met her recently, she told me that her relatives are very suspicious about her. They might be burning their brain thinking what could be the reason. She was laughing saying this.

I’m not advocating that she is right or wrong. It’s her life, let her choose the path.
Why others are too bothered to find the reason behind her spinsterhood? It may be the natural tendency of human beings to peep into others life.

It’s merciless to cut off the beautiful wings of a butterfly before it starts to fly.
Instead of crushing the dreams, be proud to see it flying high.

High in the air fluttering freely through the charming beauty of nature...




Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Remembering Those Who Cannot Remember


Remembering Those Who Cannot Remember



The beautifully scattered hues of the evening sun made the verdant valley more appealing. The crows were busy making their way back home.

Ammini seemed a bit impatient. She was waiting for Safiyumma to take her back home. She began to low at once she saw Safiyumma coming towards her. ..

Safiyumma, dressed in a checked lungi with a blouse and thorth, appeared a typical village Muslim woman. “Varunnedi mole ithiri thamasichu poyi,” she said, and patted Ammini’s dewlap affectionately. Safiyumma unfastened the tether and took her to home. For Safiyumma, life was incomplete without the ‘moo-moos’. She was a courageous and energetic rural woman, who had always indulged herself in nurturing the cows or directing the ploughing fields. None could see her chatting with her neighbours or napping lazily for hours. On the other hand, Safiyumma was busy nagging her husband and sons with her sharp tongue, for not doing any ‘fruitful’ things.

She used soft words only for her grandchildren whom she loved the most. Her happiness was in  plucking and ripening the mangoes, guavas and jackfruits for her grandchildren.  It was a frequent scene of Safiyumma cursing the squirrels and birds for biting and pecking the fruits she was bringing up cautiously for her kids.                                 
.
 Safiyumma is not hearing the rumbling of the heavy rain or the lowing of  her cows. She is sitting in a chair at  the varandha. Her eyes, lacking the glint of life, seem rather impassive. She does not see or hear anything until someone makes her to do so. Safiyumma is left alone in  home as her son and family went outside to attend a marriage. The cows are tethered outside. They are lowing helplessly as it rains in buckets. But the ‘moo-moos’ don’t wake her up!

“Umma, ithungalude vili kelkkunnille? Entha azhichu erithilil kettanjathu?” Her son asks her as he came back. She smiles naively. That is her answer.

Safiyumma’s mind is more like a blank paper, nothing to reflect and nothing to read out. She hardly remembers the names of her sons and even her bustling grandchildren cannot refresh her memory.

This is the story of Safiyumma.

She was an energetic and sharp-tongued woman until she was under the grip of Alzheimer’s, a disease of memory loss and lethargy, which has turned her life into a pathetic and helpless one.

 Safiyumma’s life has been having a chronicle of changes ever since she was diagnosed as an Alzheimer’s patient. Her loss of memory was gradual. In the early stages she used to fumble when asked about her sons’ names, but as years passed, their faces also became vague in her memory. The numbness she has towards her cows is another awful part of her illness.

She forgets to have food and hesitates to have a bath.

The Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most challenging diseases the modern medical science faces today. The Alzheimer’s disease which is almost incurable was first described by a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and is named after him. It commonly affects middle-aged people though there are exceptions. During the early stages, the symptoms may be misunderstood as the age-related concerns. When the disease gets advanced, the symptoms include confusion, mood-swings, language break-down and long-term memory loss. As years pass, the body functions of the patient worsen and finally end in death.

 On September 21, the Alzheimer’s day, let’s remember those who live without memory and  emotions. Caring…that’s all  they want, to live on. So let’s give them a little care with a touch of love.

With lifeless eyes, Safiyumma stares at the darkness through the window. No shards of hope shimmering  in the darkness. Yet, she smiles looking at the night…a smile of innocence.


Wednesday, 6 July 2011

No More Paper Storks to Scatter…


No More Paper Storks to Scatter…

She knew, perhaps, the paper storks she was making would end up in vain.

Yet, she continued, till she died.

She was Sadako, a victim of the nuclear explosion on Hiroshima.
In Japan, storks were considered sacred birds. They had a belief that those who made thousand paper storks would live long. So Sadako went on making the storks even in her death bed. But neither the belief nor the paper storks could save her. Sadako was only two years when Hiroshima was gulped by the atomic flames. Her house was only a few kilometers away from the place where the atomic bomb was dropped. Though she could survive, she was diagnosed as a blood cancer patient years later and died in 1955. A monument for peace was built in her name by her school mates after three years of her death.

It was on 6 August in 1945 that the United State s dropped the first atomic bomb, named ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima killing about 70000 people within seconds. Thousands were deadly burned. Most of the survivors also died later due to the radiation.

 It took years to realise the fatal consequences of the atomic bomb. The emission of the Alfa, Beta and Gama rays during the explosion affected badly even the next generation of the Hiroshima people. Mental retardation, genetic disorders and fatal diseases like cancer were among the outcome of the calamity. After 66 years of the nuclear attack, the people of Hiroshima still suffer the effect of the nuclear bombing.

By this time Hiroshima might have had many Sadakos and thousands of paper storks scattered around them.

Let’s only hope that there will not be any Hiroshimas or little Sadakos to mould the paper storks anymore…


Friday, 22 October 2010

Witnessing the Horizon...



Witnessing the Horizon...













The wind being shared was cool…
The words being shared were soothing…
Likes and dislikes twinkled
in the fading sunlight
The sinking sun gave the waves
A vibrant look…
                                                  
The waves carried
the sun's golden hue…
Witnessing the horizon
A bloomed dream…

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Warmth of Dream.....



Warmth of Dream.....


It scatters flowers
It spreads fragrance
It soothens minds
It takes me to the clouds
The clouds hug me as it does
The wind comes to me as it touches
I feel your warmth in me
In my dreams too...