A friend !

I was at my morning walk. The morning walks have been more of a contemplation time for me, than an exercise. I walk for about an hour.

As I completed almost 45min of this walk, suddenly came across a friend. A girl! 

I know this girl since last 3 years. Always smiling, always happy. A 70 year old. She lost her husband 3 years back. No children. Lives in a Bunglow, near my home. 

I admire her because of the qualities she possesses. She is very practical. Doesn't depend on anybody, neither relatives nor friends. Lives all alone, cooks her own food, goes to hospitals in case of any health issues without anybody to accompany her, visits temples and also visits the 'laughter club' in our Society ground. The best thing about her is, she never complains.

That day, as I met her, she got so happy and joined me for the further part of the journey. In the next 20 min, as it happens with most of the girls I meet, it was she talking and me listening..Ha..ha..! 

She shared about her recent visit to 'Hemal kaza', Anandwan and Somnath. In the remaining part of our journey, I got to know about the management of Hemal Kaza, the people living there, the source of their work, the history of the development work by Prakash Amte, et all.

She then told me about her daily morning schedule. She wakes up by 4:00am, does 'Namasmaran' for one hour and then by 6:00am is ready to move out of the house. 

I realised, how perfect she is with her calculations of the timings, her time table of the day and lives within her means satisfactorily. Inspite of staying alone, she follows all the customs and festivals.

We talk about great people, their thinking, their work, their achievements. Here is a 70 year old, living in the most simple way possible, with all the courage, not only happy externally but happy in spirit, glow all over her face, setting example of independency, detached attachment and practicality.

As we neared her house, she stopped, put her hands into the bag she was carrying, took out a leaf, 'सोनं' (सोनं are leaves of Apta, or Apati.) as it was Dusshera and presented to me.  (Dusshera, is an Indian Festival. On this day, people present Apta tree leaves to friends, relatives and neighbours and wish, Happy Dusshera. There is an interesting story on why Apati tree leaves are presented on Dussehra. You can read more over HERE.)

I instinctively touched her feet. All this was happening in the middle of the road but both of us oblivious of the surroundings. 

On this day of Dusshera, I realised that I had just got the most invaluable gift of my life. I waved her off and with moist eyes, resumed my journey to my home. 

I had just lived the most beautiful moment of my life!