I met our oldest maid servant today, very unexpectedly. She was with us from my birth till I was in 4th or 5th Std. I think. As far back as I can remember, she was my favourite then - I remember running behind her all the time.. Bheemabai to me, is a woman, who loved me a lot, who pampered me a lot, and someone whom I accompanied and helped when it came to washing utensils!
When I met her today in her small one room house, all those memories came flooding back..I wanted to talk to her, but all I could manage was a smile for some time.. I almost choked and I had to actually fight back tears... Perhaps it was because of seeing her as an old lady in an unimaginably small house or plainly out of the realization that so many years have passed since the last time I saw her. And even after all these years, the most amazing part was that the love I felt towards her when I met her today, was not one-sided - when she affectionately stroked my head and patted my back, it was like meeting my Bheemabai again - the way I remember her and the way I always want to remember her. When my mother asked her to drop by some time, she said.. "Yes, I will come for Arati's wedding!"
There are some relationships in our lives that just get formed, we hardly have a role to play in their formation. Small or large, they become a part of our lives and remain with us, in a small corner of our hearts. We don't nurture these relationships, we don't take any extra effort to make them special, to make sure these people do not forget us. But yet, they remain, intact, strong and safe, like bonds that never break. For some reason, they make me believe in the goodness of life and in the goodness of people.
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