Hi All,
This is a story I wrote when in the initial days of arriving in Chennai. Read it when you have no work. Nothing in particular when I wrote this, just a few emotional thoughts rushing in my mind
And I created an imaginary protagonist of my story, Meera. Kindly leave me your comments and correct me if I have gone wrong anywhere.
M e e r a
Suseela was the finest of the potters struggling to make a life
For herself and her two daughters. Her husband Gopi was a drunkard who killed himself to the addiction of the bottle and the sour poison in it.
Suseela struggled and strived for the sake of her younger daughter Meera's education since she knew that her elder daughter Vasudha had already
Grown up too old for schooling and she had sweetly adopted to accompany her mother to work and learn the tricks & trades of pottery.
Life went on well until it came to a standstill one day when Suseela was killed in a road accident in front of Vasudha's eyes by a reckless truck driver.
The disaster had struck the two young girls and truly god had sinned in taking away a mother from the children at such a young age but Vasudha
Knew the dream of her mother. Her mothers dream to provide the best of the education to Meera.
Meera was in an age to understand the circumstances in life and what made her life a standstill. A young achiever in her school, she went
To study in the best schools of the town all thanks, she owes to her sister Vasudha who wore & tore her hands day & night to make a living out of
The leftover occupation of her mother. She taught Meera to never bow to anyone and to never feel lesser than anyone among her peers in school. So did
Meera show her capability in every challenge that came through her way.
Years passed, days rolled and slowly the young girls were no longer younger. Vasudha's prowess in pottery earned her a shop in the central part of the town
Funded by a local non-government organization and Meera was all over the city newspapers for achieving a state award in the Board exams
And yet they continued to be the simple buds they were when their mother had left them over.
Vasudha got married to Prithvi who was in love with the art that her hands had been used to make since 23 years as well as the beauty in her inner self.
Prithvi was an ardent admirer of vasudha.Her art had been portrayed all over the world from since she was a young kid. Prithvi's life had also struck
Tragedy when his violent parents killed themselves not baring the poverty and had left over not a single penny to him. Prithvi grew up in an orphanage
And hence knew the hardship that is faced by people such as him. He had learned Sculpting skills growing up in the orphanage and thus grew
His fondness towards Vasudha who also liked him for what he was, A simple human being. Art had brought them together and with no hassles were happily married.
Now since they had earned enough Vasudha had renovated the house they lived in and Meera had ample space to study rather than the days when she
Had to study under a small lamp sitting with a book in her hand when her sister perspired to make the finest of the pots that her mother taught her to make.
Those hard days had gone now. They had enough to live like the way they love living, a simple life.
Meera completed her Msc in Mathematics and was a gold medal winner throughout the years in her university exams. She was offered to work
As a professor and hence she moved to Hyderabad working there for 2 years. The distance had made Meera miss her sister tremendously because she grew up under the shadow of Vasudha. Meera quit her job and came to her hometown to settle down with her sister and worked as a teacher in a primary school at a nearby village called
GangadharaNellore. Even though this was a lesser job to her capabilities, it is what she chose for herself.
Life was the same but an addition to the family because Vasudha was blessed with a son who was named Aswathamma.
In a year from then Meera got married to Krishna. Krishna belonged to a middle class family but since childhood had the imagination in his mind to serve the poor
And provide justice to the needy, working for a better tomorrow for the lives of the downtrodden by opposing the power of the greedy. Krishna was a simple and honest man which is what the qualification that Meera loved in him. She fell in love with the heart that Krishna had which could handle the hurricane of emotions in
People. Krishna was a demigod in the town when everyone needed Justice. He was the person that people listened and followed with a blind faith because
Of his unambiguous opposition towards unjust happenings. He was a savior. Meera was loved & cared by her in laws especially her Mother in Law Shakuntala.
When Meera and Krishna got married, Vasudha fulfilled everything that had to be done from the Brides side. She had made Meera jewellery with her pottery earnings
And also helped her financially to setup a place to start her living with her husband. Shakuntala also gifted her daughter in law a gold ornament passed on as
Tradition by her family to her and henceforth the tradition to be carried on by Meera. Thus, Suseela's dream had been fulfilled by Meera's marriage.
Whatever might be the characters of these, life seemed normal for everyone. A simple one. Each of them setting out their foot early morning to achieve something
That they thought is for which they were born. Meera loved teaching and so did she leave everyday promptly to school. A few days down the lane, Meera was
Carrying and her mother in law visited her.
Meera (surprised): How are u mother?
Shakuntala (smiling!!): I am fine Meera, How is your health and your two month old child?
Shakuntala (questioned): How is Krishna and where is he? Does he take care of you well?
Meera: Mother, he is busy with the land row for the poor n downtrodden. He comes very late and leaves early.
Shakuntala: Oh! Then how are u managing?
Meera: I have learnt to very well manage myself Mother.
Shakuntala: Brave Child, May god bless you.
After a few months Shakuntala wanted to visit Meera once again and this time she didn’t want to go there empty handed.
She cooked what Meera loved and thought would visit Meera to her school and give her a surprise.
By lunch time she was near the school and while she was walking on the way, she was taken aback.
Onlookers and passersby were gossiping and conversing about her. She wondered as to what is the reason
That they are talking about her and some people even coming up to her and praising her. Shakuntala curiously questions one of
The women.
Shakuntala: Why is that u are praising me?
A Woman: Because your mother to Krishna who fought to get me a house for living.
Your son is the reason I am alive today. Poverty had left suicide the only option for me but he rescued me and gave me a small amount to open a bangle store through which I make my living now.
Another woman from the gathering added
A Woman: You have given birth to such a good son and your lucky to have got a daughter in law as well,
Nothing less than your son
Shakuntala (Anxiously): What did Meera do for you?
The lady pointing towards six girls studying under the shade of the school.
A Woman: Meera came to us to the village and forced us to send these girls to school. She made us understand the value of education by revealing
Her heart and soul and how education had turned her life. She even promised to take care of the expenses for the education of these girls such as books, stationery and fees.
Now we are so happy seeing those girls sitting there with a book rather than working in the fields. May god bless Meera.
They left.
Shakuntala walked to the school full of emotions, thoughts revolving around in her mind. She quietly surprised her daughter in law and
Gave her lunch and left. After a few days she decided to visit her on a Sunday and question Meera about what she had heard from the
Villagers and how she is managing her house with a meager salary as well as the education of the girls.
On a Sunday
Shakuntala walks into the house and sees Meera sewing a sweater for her unborn child.
Meera: Mother, How are you? What a pleasant surprise?
Shakuntala: Your the reason for the surprise my child.
Meera: Why mother?
Shakuntala explains all she heard from the villagers and questions
Shakuntala: How did you get so much money for the girl’s education Meera?
Meera covers her neck with her sari.
Meera (after much hesitation): Mother! I would like to tell you the truth.
I sold the gold chain u have gifted to me on my marriage as tradition. I didn’t think the value of it
Was bigger than the value of the education of these girls. These girls will grow up
To educate many such girls as themselves. It serves a purpose that will reflect in
The way we live for the future Mother.
Shakuntala observes astonished that Meera had even sold the gold chain that every woman wears as a symbol of her marriage with a pendant (thali).
A minimum craving and requirement for a woman in Indian tradition.
She had replaced the gold chain with a saffron thread. Shakuntala in tears, dumbstruck just silently walks away.
Meera went on to educate many such children and produced many such Meera's within those children. She proved
That her mothers dream didn’t end by her but will live as long as we breathe.
JAI HIND
This is a story I wrote when in the initial days of arriving in Chennai. Read it when you have no work. Nothing in particular when I wrote this, just a few emotional thoughts rushing in my mind
And I created an imaginary protagonist of my story, Meera. Kindly leave me your comments and correct me if I have gone wrong anywhere.
M e e r a
Suseela was the finest of the potters struggling to make a life
For herself and her two daughters. Her husband Gopi was a drunkard who killed himself to the addiction of the bottle and the sour poison in it.
Suseela struggled and strived for the sake of her younger daughter Meera's education since she knew that her elder daughter Vasudha had already
Grown up too old for schooling and she had sweetly adopted to accompany her mother to work and learn the tricks & trades of pottery.
Life went on well until it came to a standstill one day when Suseela was killed in a road accident in front of Vasudha's eyes by a reckless truck driver.
The disaster had struck the two young girls and truly god had sinned in taking away a mother from the children at such a young age but Vasudha
Knew the dream of her mother. Her mothers dream to provide the best of the education to Meera.
Meera was in an age to understand the circumstances in life and what made her life a standstill. A young achiever in her school, she went
To study in the best schools of the town all thanks, she owes to her sister Vasudha who wore & tore her hands day & night to make a living out of
The leftover occupation of her mother. She taught Meera to never bow to anyone and to never feel lesser than anyone among her peers in school. So did
Meera show her capability in every challenge that came through her way.
Years passed, days rolled and slowly the young girls were no longer younger. Vasudha's prowess in pottery earned her a shop in the central part of the town
Funded by a local non-government organization and Meera was all over the city newspapers for achieving a state award in the Board exams
And yet they continued to be the simple buds they were when their mother had left them over.
Vasudha got married to Prithvi who was in love with the art that her hands had been used to make since 23 years as well as the beauty in her inner self.
Prithvi was an ardent admirer of vasudha.Her art had been portrayed all over the world from since she was a young kid. Prithvi's life had also struck
Tragedy when his violent parents killed themselves not baring the poverty and had left over not a single penny to him. Prithvi grew up in an orphanage
And hence knew the hardship that is faced by people such as him. He had learned Sculpting skills growing up in the orphanage and thus grew
His fondness towards Vasudha who also liked him for what he was, A simple human being. Art had brought them together and with no hassles were happily married.
Now since they had earned enough Vasudha had renovated the house they lived in and Meera had ample space to study rather than the days when she
Had to study under a small lamp sitting with a book in her hand when her sister perspired to make the finest of the pots that her mother taught her to make.
Those hard days had gone now. They had enough to live like the way they love living, a simple life.
Meera completed her Msc in Mathematics and was a gold medal winner throughout the years in her university exams. She was offered to work
As a professor and hence she moved to Hyderabad working there for 2 years. The distance had made Meera miss her sister tremendously because she grew up under the shadow of Vasudha. Meera quit her job and came to her hometown to settle down with her sister and worked as a teacher in a primary school at a nearby village called
GangadharaNellore. Even though this was a lesser job to her capabilities, it is what she chose for herself.
Life was the same but an addition to the family because Vasudha was blessed with a son who was named Aswathamma.
In a year from then Meera got married to Krishna. Krishna belonged to a middle class family but since childhood had the imagination in his mind to serve the poor
And provide justice to the needy, working for a better tomorrow for the lives of the downtrodden by opposing the power of the greedy. Krishna was a simple and honest man which is what the qualification that Meera loved in him. She fell in love with the heart that Krishna had which could handle the hurricane of emotions in
People. Krishna was a demigod in the town when everyone needed Justice. He was the person that people listened and followed with a blind faith because
Of his unambiguous opposition towards unjust happenings. He was a savior. Meera was loved & cared by her in laws especially her Mother in Law Shakuntala.
When Meera and Krishna got married, Vasudha fulfilled everything that had to be done from the Brides side. She had made Meera jewellery with her pottery earnings
And also helped her financially to setup a place to start her living with her husband. Shakuntala also gifted her daughter in law a gold ornament passed on as
Tradition by her family to her and henceforth the tradition to be carried on by Meera. Thus, Suseela's dream had been fulfilled by Meera's marriage.
Whatever might be the characters of these, life seemed normal for everyone. A simple one. Each of them setting out their foot early morning to achieve something
That they thought is for which they were born. Meera loved teaching and so did she leave everyday promptly to school. A few days down the lane, Meera was
Carrying and her mother in law visited her.
Meera (surprised): How are u mother?
Shakuntala (smiling!!): I am fine Meera, How is your health and your two month old child?
Shakuntala (questioned): How is Krishna and where is he? Does he take care of you well?
Meera: Mother, he is busy with the land row for the poor n downtrodden. He comes very late and leaves early.
Shakuntala: Oh! Then how are u managing?
Meera: I have learnt to very well manage myself Mother.
Shakuntala: Brave Child, May god bless you.
After a few months Shakuntala wanted to visit Meera once again and this time she didn’t want to go there empty handed.
She cooked what Meera loved and thought would visit Meera to her school and give her a surprise.
By lunch time she was near the school and while she was walking on the way, she was taken aback.
Onlookers and passersby were gossiping and conversing about her. She wondered as to what is the reason
That they are talking about her and some people even coming up to her and praising her. Shakuntala curiously questions one of
The women.
Shakuntala: Why is that u are praising me?
A Woman: Because your mother to Krishna who fought to get me a house for living.
Your son is the reason I am alive today. Poverty had left suicide the only option for me but he rescued me and gave me a small amount to open a bangle store through which I make my living now.
Another woman from the gathering added
A Woman: You have given birth to such a good son and your lucky to have got a daughter in law as well,
Nothing less than your son
Shakuntala (Anxiously): What did Meera do for you?
The lady pointing towards six girls studying under the shade of the school.
A Woman: Meera came to us to the village and forced us to send these girls to school. She made us understand the value of education by revealing
Her heart and soul and how education had turned her life. She even promised to take care of the expenses for the education of these girls such as books, stationery and fees.
Now we are so happy seeing those girls sitting there with a book rather than working in the fields. May god bless Meera.
They left.
Shakuntala walked to the school full of emotions, thoughts revolving around in her mind. She quietly surprised her daughter in law and
Gave her lunch and left. After a few days she decided to visit her on a Sunday and question Meera about what she had heard from the
Villagers and how she is managing her house with a meager salary as well as the education of the girls.
On a Sunday
Shakuntala walks into the house and sees Meera sewing a sweater for her unborn child.
Meera: Mother, How are you? What a pleasant surprise?
Shakuntala: Your the reason for the surprise my child.
Meera: Why mother?
Shakuntala explains all she heard from the villagers and questions
Shakuntala: How did you get so much money for the girl’s education Meera?
Meera covers her neck with her sari.
Meera (after much hesitation): Mother! I would like to tell you the truth.
I sold the gold chain u have gifted to me on my marriage as tradition. I didn’t think the value of it
Was bigger than the value of the education of these girls. These girls will grow up
To educate many such girls as themselves. It serves a purpose that will reflect in
The way we live for the future Mother.
Shakuntala observes astonished that Meera had even sold the gold chain that every woman wears as a symbol of her marriage with a pendant (thali).
A minimum craving and requirement for a woman in Indian tradition.
She had replaced the gold chain with a saffron thread. Shakuntala in tears, dumbstruck just silently walks away.
Meera went on to educate many such children and produced many such Meera's within those children. She proved
That her mothers dream didn’t end by her but will live as long as we breathe.
JAI HIND
