Three elderly souls

This is a tale of elders three,

One 86-year-old gardener, a paralyzed railway retiree,

and a very old woman who by a lonely road sold tea.

Mali ji, as a gardener in Hindi, respectfully addressed,

Used to wake up early in his village near

Panchgani, walk up to a bus stand,

take a ride and the final two kilometers

briskly march ahead.

To Hotel Prospect where for more than sixty

years he had worked,

Watering lovely roses and dozens of other

colorful blooms he had tenderly

over the years nurtured.

A toothless smile, along with some flowers for our

balcony at home, he would always give us.

Till we noticed last time that the plants

were alone.

On enquiring we were told he was

admitted to a hospital but had

been discharged.

Though he was paralyzed in his lips & his

complaints could not be heard.

That he was not recognizing his near &

dear,

But was managing to perform his acts on

his own, an almost irreversible change in him was making

itself clear.

It so happened when from Panchgani

to Pune we were driving down,

We prayed at an ancient Shiva temple

Which was away from the town.

And as we descended to the

main road below,

At a bus stop was standing with his

old wife, steadfastly with love that

was very deep not shallow.

Mali ji recognized us and his wife gave us

a smile,

With cataract visible in her ageing eyes

with hope in them for their visit to the

government hospital which younger

folks thought futile.

May all find comfort in their last

days.

And be healthy, active and joyful as always.

The second old man in our Society

Pebbles Urbania, does stay.

I and my friend Vinay Kumta

met him in the garden’s walkway.

That was a year back and the

man’s spirits were battered & low,

Because he had suffered a stroke,

bitterness had gripped him and of an affordable medical remedy

he was not in the know.

Vinay convinced him that he must
thank his lucky star,

That the stroke hit him after he retired,
with the children all settled with
all his liabilities left behind,
in the past very far.

As a medicine a very expensive,
one he had been told,

And a Railway medical reimbursement was
not practicable, not something
he could hold.

Vinay told him of Jan Aushadhi where
affordable generic medicines could be had,

Soon after, in a few months, the
gentleman was better & no longer sad.

For one he was sleeping well and managing to slowly walk and in our Society garden

with the installed machines exercise, thus beat the blues in a manner

which if not very good was not too bad.

The third was an old lady
who in a lonely mountain
highway south of Mahabaleshwar
had opened a tea stall,

She made her fare on a wood based
chulha, the fuel
being collected from the
surrounding forest, fallen
branches of trees which were neither too big nor too small.

Maybe 4 buses and a few trucks
halted at her outlet during the
day,

Giving her enough profit to live on
with a resolve to continue
till her end which was not
far so to say.

When we returned after our
drive in the evening the lady
was closing her shop and was
walking uphill to her home
in a village which was
a kilometer away.

These details were revealed by
Mangesh who drives our car
whenever in Panchgani we
stay.

Thus, we elders who are not so old,

Can draw inspiration from these three who are much older, active and bold.