The Extraordinary Ordinary

Every evening, I see an old lady walking up our road, with a bag in her hand. She delivers milk and flowers to some house, quite a distance away. Maybe all that walking has kept her fit. I don’t think she really has to go herself, but it looks as if she enjoys herself. She is in her own world as she goes by.

Seeing her I am reminded of the vegetable lady, Asha, who comes every Friday, carrying a basket full of vegetables. She buys them in the local market and sells them in different places. She walks the whole day till all the vegetables are sold. She lost her husband quite some time ago, she has a daughter and two sons. Her hometown is in the northern part of our state and came here to find work, as her sisters and other relatives live here. Her daughter had been married at an early age and unfortunately she had been told to leave on the grounds of insufficient dowry. She lived with her mother. Asha was always worried about her. Sometime last year, a hardworking, nice, young man, from her own town told her that he wanted to marry her daughter. She was hesitant as her daughter was married. But, that young man was very definite. Fortunately with the help of the village elders her daughter got a divorce and within a few months married again. Asha was very happy. Now she has gone to her hometown as her daughter is expecting her first child. She will return after a some months. Before leaving she had informed all her regular customers that she would not be coming for some months.

All alone, with three children, she come here to make a living and it has been a life of struggle, lack of money and hard work . An extraordinary and ordinary person. They are so many people like her and that old lady who goes by every evening, without fail.
R.K Laxman’s ‘Common Man’ comes to mind when I think of such extraordinary people. What they are achieving may not be ‘news worthy’ in the commonly accepted sense but they are great achievements because they have been achieved in spite of so many problems.
Truly, extraordinary people.

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Yes Syamala Thanks , Lakshmi