Dehiscence

Every morning, the cook comes to our house to make "rotis". She also works as a full cook in one other house and as a housemaid in four other houses.She has a son and a daughter aged 15 and 7 respectively, while she herself is about 35.

She is the sole breadwinner of her family. Her family stays on the poverty line, and she herself may never be able to get above the line. But, she is working a seven-day week every week of the year, so that her children will get the opportunity to conquer the line.

Her son is in the tenth standard, and her daughter in the second. Her son rarely attends school, while her daughter is diligence personified. They do not realise the blood and sweat of the mother.

Tuitions for her son, school fees, daily transport, and food and house for three are deftly managed within Rs 3500 in a city like Mumbai. For comparison, a months supply of 2-litre milk a day, comes to around Rs 1250. Monthly rent of a room in the slum area is Rs 700.

What is noteworthy, is the fact that she is a true heroine. Her children may not understand it now, nor may many people whom she comes in contact with everyday. She is striving real hard to make a better future for her family, while her husband gave up on it and took to drinking.

She is illiterate, and today has little chance of becoming literate. And so, she leaves no stone unturned to make her children literate. And all this, with a smile on her face.

Every mother, the catalyst of dehiscence..

I WISH YOU...

I wish you many things good
And also a few things bad

For one gives you sweet fruit
And the other, a strong root

So that you have stars in your hand
And yet your feet still feel the sand

Ergo set not your standards low
Only before God do bow

Hence dear friend, make strong your roots
For strong roots bear best of the fruits

Hence I wish you many things ..
Some good some bad

Since I could read, books have been my companions. Most were good, and a handful have touched my heart in the way only a loved one can.

The complete works of Swami Vivekananda.

Each time I read any volume, I can actually feel the powerful wisdom exuding from it, even a hundred years after the master gave the speeches. I never cease to wonder what the effect would have been on the people, who actually listened to his incisive oratory a century ago.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

The book captures the pluck and the diligence of the seagull Jonathan, and somewhere deep down, tells us of the seagull in our hearts waiting to fly across the infinite skies.

Maverick written by Ricardo Semler.

Maverick shows the amazing changes that can be brought about, by constantly questioning old beliefs and by believing in people. I never knew that democracy could be so rejuvenating.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

"The first" book which touched me. Life in one summer vacation, as seen from an eight-year old's eyes. And how she sees her father Atticus Finch stand up and fight for a black fellow-being against the whole white commmunity in court.

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller.

WHAT DO I SAY OF THIS BOOK? Some books have to be read to be believed.

Exodus by Leon Uris.

The story of Israel. The story of Barak Ben Canaan and Ari Ben Canaan. The story of the love of one's country and the story of silent determination.

Each page, a dehiscence.