The yellow dress

“Is this yellow dress for sale?”

I hear the anxious voice of a lady behind me. I turn back to see a middle aged, slightly plump, short lady in a faded purple cotton saree and a red blouse craning inside the small doorway of a 12 by 6 feet tailor shop I am in. She is a little dark, but her face looks friendly and lively. She has long hair that is plaited and she is wearing a big red bindi. Her clothes and the way she carries herself, show that she is from a lower middle class family.

There is mixed emotions on her face as she holds the bright yellow dress hung on the mannequin of the tailor shop.

“How much will this cost? “

The tailor shop I am in, also sells few dresses.  The lady is asking about one of the dresses on sale. “2500 Rs,” says the lady inside the tailor shop.

“Ok!” the lady replies with a smile.

The cost of the dress does not take the smile off her face.

“I haven’t got the full cash - can you keep the dress aside if I give you a token amount?” she says. Almost in a plea. I can see she is worried that the dress will be sold out. 

It is obvious that she loves the dress and is imagining her daughter (or was it her daughter in law) in that dress. I can see that she likes the image that is forming in her mind. 

But there is a hesitation too. She is trying to restrain her excitement. Perhaps she is thinking, What if her daughter did not like the gift?

“I can always exchange the dress if I bring it back within three days, right?” Her voice breaks my trail of thoughts.

I smile.

“Can I see the other choices too?” she says.

She eyes brightens as she sees the bright red, pale green, voilet variations of the dress. She picks each one of them and admires them. I can see she loves all of them and is suddenly confused. She brushes her thoughts aside, smiles at the lady in the shop and says,

“Ok. Please keep the yellow dress aside. I will pay the full amount and take the dress tomorrow.”

She pays the token amount and rushes back home.

"Mothers!" I think with a smile and get back to looking at the catalogue on the tailor's desk.

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Mother

This week's post is very special to me since it has been written by my mother in law. She lost her 87 year old mother a few days back and she wrote this post as a tribute to her. My mother in law has studied in the marathi medium school and has studied till the 10th standard. Whatever knowledge she has today( including this writing in english) is what she has learnt out of her own interest and quest for learning.

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Have you seen the picture "Mother India"? Every mother treats her children like that mother. These days children have no patience and don’t understand their Janamdata( the person who has given birth to them). They especially don’t understand their mother's feelings.

My beloved mother is no more. She expired on the 18th of December 2011. She loved us a lot.

My mother ! Oh ! My mother ! She was love and happiness itself. She was a teacher but she loved her children like their mother.

I was in the second standard and my class teacher was my Aai( I used to call my mother as Aai, which stands for mother in Marathi ). Those days annual examination was held by AEO( Assistant Education Officer ). That year, I got the first rank. My mother told the headmistress that "Good that my daughter got first rank in an examination conducted by the AEO. If I had conducted the exam and my daughter would have got first rank, people would have teased me." This incident taught me that I should not make a difference between my own people and others.

She had gone through many difficulties in life but she never grumbled. She never complained.

Those days most women had a lot of gold jewellery. My mother too had more than 5000 grams of gold ornaments. She lost all the jewellery to handle family problems. But she never uttered a word about it. She lived her life like any other person. What a wonderful personality my mom was! I have always been very impressed by this character of my mother. From this I learned that we should not be attached to material things.

I was in my fifth standard. I wanted to participate in the Nishani drill in which I was supposed to be holding a small national flag. I needed to wear a white dress while doing the drill. My Aai did not have enough money to buy me a white frock but my little mind could not understand her problems. I would cling on to her pallu and be after her about wanting the dress. She would always provide me for my needs, even though she would later struggle to manage the household expenditure.

She studied in the teachers training college in 1950s. There in one of the functions she sung a song in Marathi

Mana mi Kiti tuz shikavoo re

Ram smarawa ghadi ghadiss Ram smarava re

Mana mi kiti tuz shivavoo re

Saandooni Sukh he smaran hariche

Fukat kal ka davadi re

Mana mi…

Durlabha nar tan jaayeel jevha

Kay karil dhan raashi re..

Mana mi…

Patit pavan prabhoo hari smarata

Jashil moksha padhala re..

Mana mi…

( Oh! Mind! How many times should I guide you?

Remember Ram moment to moment.. .

Oh! Mind! How many times should I guide you?

You lose the happiness of remember God

By wasting your time in useless activities

Oh! Mind!…

The human body that you value so much, will be soon gone,

What will you do of your wealth then,

Oh! Mind!...

All your sins will be washed away if you remember God

You will attain moksha(salvation),

Oh! Mind!...)

She lived like this song. With this writing, I am doing a "Aakhri Salam" to my mother.

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