Give thanks for them.

Today on world leprosy day, I quietly slip into memory lane. My thoughts are with a group of 10 lepers who came to our door every Saturday begging for alms. They held tin cans and we dropped 10 paise into each can. Ma prepared jaggery sweet for them as a special treat for Christmas. How happy they were and it made us so happy to witness their happiness. 

  My thoughts are also with Father Damien who served the lepers of Hawaii tirelessly and finally succumbed to the disease on April 5th, 1889. 

January 30th is also observed as Martyr's day in India. It was on this day in the year 1948 that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse. On this day, the president, vice president, three service chiefs gather around the samadhi of the Mahatma and lay wreaths. The last post is sounded by the Armed forces and a two-minute silence for Indian martyrs is observed throughout the country at 11am.  

In remembrance of two extraordinary men who walked the earth.

Bapu

The Little book seller.

He must have been five or six years old. Unaccompanied he deftly made his way into the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local at peak hours in the evening. 

What struck me as remarkable in this quite unremarkable child was that he was cradling a pile of books written by popular authors desperately looking for a good bargain. There was Durjoy Datta, Twinkle Khanna, Khalid Hosseini and a host of others to choose from. 
Most of the women gave him a cursory glance or just smiled sweetly. One straightened a book in the pile and went back to her cell. 


He continued to look imploringly and expectantly at the ladies but none obliged. Then suddenly lady luck did smile on him when a young college girl made her choice and bargain. He quoted Rs250. "Rs200," said she. The deal was struck. 


The little bookseller had money in his pocket and and one book less to carry.
My heart went out to him. Did he at least know the alphabet? I think not. Most probably he would grow up to be a street smart businessman unless there was at least some basic education in store for him.

I believe the little lad should have been kicking a ball somewhere or doing his homework. Alas! somebody thought differently. It is truly a sad state of affairs. So many children are spotted begging or trying to sell their wares at traffic signals. Quite a few work in factories for paltry sums. A few are rescued but many remain hapless victims of the system. 

A stitch in time and being fit and fine.

 A nasty freakish fall in my kitchen does damage to the palm of my left hand, which is also my working hand and has me literally in stitches this New Year. Praise God, it could have been worse. My head is intact and I do not have to contend with any broken bones. 

There are all these diets flying around, I have tried a couple, succeeded and failed and tried again. At 54 you want to dress well and look good. What does looking good entail, especially for women of 50+? 

• A healthy weight. For some of us, a healthy weight is hard to come by. One is called upon to garner every ounce of self-discipline and motivation in order to achieve that ideal weight.
  
  I have burnt my fingers and presently struggling with weight issues. The festive season did not help. It is going to be a long uphill climb. God help me!

• A haircut that does not add years but dignity to your face and elegance to your being. On the matter of hair, while some of us are just fine with salt in our hair, others may prefer a different colour and hue. 

• Age appropriate clothes and shoes. 

My son brought to me a lovely red dress, that I had worn to one of my wedding receptions 23 years ago. he looked me in the eye and said, " Can you get into this now?" Wistfully and sadly I replied, " hardly, the dress is 23 years old."

There are a lucky few who may still fit into a 23-year-old dress, but is it really important to fit into an old dress or simply stay healthy, not necessarily very wealthy and wise?