'kanti aunti'

The ill feeling:

That early morning of 21st October, I was struck by seasonal flu and was feeling too weak to get up in the morning. Whole night I had been tossing in bed which made me all the more drained and tired. When kanti aunti knocked at the door, I was too tired to respond. Kanti aunti comes daily for early morning household chores. Ashu opened the door and I could hear her barging in. I hoped Ashu would tell her to come back later, as I wanted to rest at that time. I was slightly irritated when I heard her coming in. she knocked and came inside the room.

The concern:

She looked really concerned when she looked at me. I was all wrapped up in blanket with the whole room smelling of medicines and vicks. She instantly went to kitchen, heated some mustard oil with some ingredients and sat down to give me a head massage. I was really touched by her concern. All through she kept on advising me about what herbs to drink as tea. The extent of her concern was evident when she even came back with few herbs(which she called ‘jaikush’ in her native language) after two hours. She must have walked few kilometers to get those leaves. She really made me feel warm and loved. All through this, I was really overwhelmed by her concern, care and simplicity.

The Grand Chennai:

 Had it been Chennai( the city I lived previously), my maid would have been very happy to return back and would have celebrated her day as holiday. But looking at kanti aunti I kept on wondering at the human touch with which people carry on their duties in smaller towns and villages. Here people are more important than things, and emotions prevail over thoughts. This magic touch seems to be vanishing in our fast and modern metro lives, and seems to be far too much price for our urbanization.

Sacred cow

It was a usual pleasant morning and I was hurrying to my work. Nowadays I drive to my work, but driving in a small town as Lakhimpur is way different from driving in Chennai, where traffic is more systematic. In addition my blood pressure always begins to rise when it comes to either parking in a small place or taking a reverse gear in the car. The single roads without dividers, with bidirectional traffic are one of the major drawbacks of small towns. It gives me goose-bumps, when people land right in front of my nose on pretext of overtaking.

So when I took out the car and turned in the next lane, two cows were sitting on the road, one in corner and the other right in the middle. I started giving horns, but the one in middle looked at me with her large black eyes as if refusing to give up. I constantly honked for few minutes but she kept sitting. Finally I got out of the car and started ‘hushing’ her with both my hands. But she was far more determined than I thought. I started getting desperate. I looked around but no one was out there. I again sat in the car and started the engine trying to scare her. I slowly started moving the car and reached very close to her. For once she moved her face away but there were no signs of giving up. I was also sacred that I might not hit her. Finally I stopped the car and started calling for Ashu. He came smiling and tried the same trick of pushing the car towards her. But the clever creature might have understood our desperate attempts to scare her and hence sat there undisturbed.

Finally we ended the battle when Ashu took a long reverse and took up another lane. It was the time when he told me that a cow is considered to be the symbol of “soul”, and one of the most peaceful creatures on this earth. Hence the name ‘kamdhenu’ i.e the one which grants you all your wishes. And I drove to my work contemplating on this mystical experience.