"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass."-Maya Angelou
She dazzled the wide-eyed child with her smile and confidence as she walked the 'catwalk' to a peppy number."See!You can walk to this song too,you just have to enjoy and feel the music," she asserted.As she sashayed along the adjoining rooms,the same old living room seemed to come alive and the lights shined a little brighter in the rooms she walked through.
PICTURES:She looked beautiful in one with the flower in her hair and the lights from the fountain in the city surrounding her;she looked a confident woman with a purpose in the other with her sunglasses-banners and flags all around her as she waited along with the numberless mass of faces for the leader to begin the speech.
She patiently read the letter written by the girl filled with all her anxiety of finding a place for herself in the confusing world of high school and hostels.She listened to her tales of meanness of bigger girls with a sympathetic ear and didn't lecture on any high-sounding moral value.She was just there to listen and lighten the anguish of the sensitive teenager.
She sat in the backseat of the Gypsy as her son drove.The stereo played some English songs and as the first strains of 'Buffalo Soldier' filled the car,she smiled and told the girl that it was her favorite song and then she sang along.
She looked gaunt and tired as she lay on the hospital bed.Yet the smile and warmth still emanated from her.She had a pile of comics under her bed which she had bought for her son to read,to fill his time as he waited on her.The girl was delighted to see them and buried herself in the world of wars and action of the comics while the adults discussed her malady.The girl's aunt with whom she had come to visit decided that it was not healthy for her to stay long in the hospital ward,to her disappointment everybody else agreed and so she had to leave unwillingly.
That was the last time I ever saw her.
Bright lipsticks,sunglasses,an open laugh,'Buffalo Soldier'-my aunt.
But there was more to her than meets the eye.A single parent after she lost her husband very early on into the marriage,she gave all the care,support and love of a mother as well as that of a father to her only child.At a time when women in the community were hardly getting higher education,she plunge into the world of politics-a male bastion then(and it hasn't changed so much till date).An entertaining host be it at home or a social gathering-she always brought laughter and smiles even while her sickness slowly took her away from us.(I was to find out only later that the sunglasses I always associated with her glamorous image was for protection.She had dust allergy.)
Though its been years since she left us,sometimes I cannot help but think of what could have been if she was still around.I can think of a thousand things but in the end,the only feeling that remains is that of pride of ever having known such a powerhouse,such a superwoman.
She dazzled the wide-eyed child with her smile and confidence as she walked the 'catwalk' to a peppy number."See!You can walk to this song too,you just have to enjoy and feel the music," she asserted.As she sashayed along the adjoining rooms,the same old living room seemed to come alive and the lights shined a little brighter in the rooms she walked through.
PICTURES:She looked beautiful in one with the flower in her hair and the lights from the fountain in the city surrounding her;she looked a confident woman with a purpose in the other with her sunglasses-banners and flags all around her as she waited along with the numberless mass of faces for the leader to begin the speech.
She patiently read the letter written by the girl filled with all her anxiety of finding a place for herself in the confusing world of high school and hostels.She listened to her tales of meanness of bigger girls with a sympathetic ear and didn't lecture on any high-sounding moral value.She was just there to listen and lighten the anguish of the sensitive teenager.
She sat in the backseat of the Gypsy as her son drove.The stereo played some English songs and as the first strains of 'Buffalo Soldier' filled the car,she smiled and told the girl that it was her favorite song and then she sang along.
She looked gaunt and tired as she lay on the hospital bed.Yet the smile and warmth still emanated from her.She had a pile of comics under her bed which she had bought for her son to read,to fill his time as he waited on her.The girl was delighted to see them and buried herself in the world of wars and action of the comics while the adults discussed her malady.The girl's aunt with whom she had come to visit decided that it was not healthy for her to stay long in the hospital ward,to her disappointment everybody else agreed and so she had to leave unwillingly.
That was the last time I ever saw her.
Bright lipsticks,sunglasses,an open laugh,'Buffalo Soldier'-my aunt.
But there was more to her than meets the eye.A single parent after she lost her husband very early on into the marriage,she gave all the care,support and love of a mother as well as that of a father to her only child.At a time when women in the community were hardly getting higher education,she plunge into the world of politics-a male bastion then(and it hasn't changed so much till date).An entertaining host be it at home or a social gathering-she always brought laughter and smiles even while her sickness slowly took her away from us.(I was to find out only later that the sunglasses I always associated with her glamorous image was for protection.She had dust allergy.)
Though its been years since she left us,sometimes I cannot help but think of what could have been if she was still around.I can think of a thousand things but in the end,the only feeling that remains is that of pride of ever having known such a powerhouse,such a superwoman.
