First I got the link at Madhukar’s blog. When I read about her, I was simply numb, sitting there staring at my monitor. This is the way; Indian National Congress treats their members. And if not for www.rediff.com, we could have hardly known her. She has lost everything, family, money except her self esteem in the freedom struggle. She is 106 year old lady. She still has bounce in her steps and speaks five languages.
For her, “January 30, 1948 was a day she still mourns. Not only because Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, but because she lost her husband and three sons in the riots that followed. Her husband was shot at; her children, crushed to death. She was in Mysore to give birth to her fourth child. On hearing the news, she rushed to identify the bodies of her loved ones. Shortly thereafter, she lost her daughter to chickenpox. “I lost my family for the sake of my country. I shouldn’t be crying,” she says. “And yet, the tears rolled down my cheeks constantly. Those were the only times in my life when I cried aloud and accused God of being unfair to me.”
“She wandered around in Mumbai, Jabalpur and across Maharashtra, went to all government offices asking for a job. Everywhere she went, she was asked about certificates, but she had nothing except the one sari she wore. Those were the darkest days of her life. She was hungry, with no proper clothes and no place to stay. But she was sure about one thing — she would not go to a Congress office and ask for money.â€?
She says, “”My self-respect comes before everything else. I was ready to take tuitions for just Re 1.”â€?
She still keeps herself update about happenings in our country, and around 15th August, I read in a newspaper supplement that most of our hip hop youths don’t know who had written our national song and national anthem.
“Saraswathy’s day is never complete without her going through various newspapers. “I can’t live without knowing what’s happening in my country. I can only read about it now. The days of being part of the happenings are over for me.”
Is she a disillusioned and , bitter person? See what she says,
“I don’t like this corrupt India. This is not the India we dreamt of, the India we sacrificed our lives for. It pains me to see corruption everywhere. But I must say there are so many loving, selfless and affectionate people in our country! It is only politicians who are selfish.â€?
Probably this is not the only story we have in our great country. There are many like this but they are lost somewhere in time. If any one brings up such a story to our politicians then they will just talk about it but do nothing. It is really painful to see such state of affairs in our country.
i know the value of those tears…coz i feel the pain in me myself……………………………………….