People around the world have different hobbies, I have mine too- 'People watching'...nothing fascinates me more than watching the man on the road..the most fascinating stories I've come across are that of the man on the road the common man...an oh I forgot to mention that my people watching also has a method in all the madness! Usually I'm in the shabbiest of attires, not really by choice, but because it really doesn't matter most of the time, either way. I'm usually accompanied by my good old friend, a paper cup holding the finest of Coorgi coffee, brewed at home and my phone camera, that serves as record for all the quirky, happy and fun incidents that happen on the road.
The story that enfolds in my mind right now, was on one such evening walk in the city of Chennai, India. For those of you familiar with and in love with the tradition that binds Chennai, you would know of a little nook called Mylapore. A traditional's delight, Mylapore is what brings out one of the most beautiful favors of Chennai, apart from the coffee of course. Full of tilaked Brahmins, small temples here and there and little shops selling, the liitle nitty gritties of life, God and living.
While strolling on the pavement this particular evening, soaking in the sights, I chanced upon a rather strange scene. A beggar couple lay on the pavement. In the early evening light, their pain, poverty and unhappiness seemed to be even more highlighted. As I peered closer, the woman ( I am assuming its his wife/lover..whatever) sits up, with the support of her loved one. The man suddenly turns his back on her..mutters something beneath his breath and guides her hand to his back. In one of the most spectacular gestures I'have ever seen, the woman's face lights up with a smile and love...her hand in motion with that of love, caresses and scratches that of her partners back..there is so much warmth, love and affection in that gesture that it leaves me numb. It strikes me that love, beauty and purity does not need the riches of the world, nor the fanciness of gifts. In that one humble offering, she gave to her man what was indescribable love..and beauty par excellence in its very simplicity...my camera, which is usually always ready hesitated and the hands pushed it inside my pockets once more..some scenes like those created by God cannot be replicated nor captured and are beautiful in their privacy..it remains in memory as one of the most purest and beautiful moments that I have witnessed.
A minute or two later, the woman notices me, she smiles at me indulgently, a queen in the supremacy of her love, she falls back on the pavement and lives on in the moment of poverty drenched sleep of life...A bell from the nearby Santhome church rings..the statue of Mother Mary comes alive with the little lamps that surround her..
There is and will be nothing more beautiful that that moment for me..for in showing me this, the lord also showed me LIFE!
© 2011 Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury
There is nothing as beautiful as the simplicity of life which is what I share here as a part of the Yahoo-Dove Real Beauty contest on Indiblogger.
( Image courtesy Google)
4 comments:
You captured well the Intimate with your writing. No need of a picture. Well done.
Thanks a bunch :)
''A minute or two later, the woman notices me, she smiles at me indulgently, a queen in the supremacy of her love, she falls back on the pavement and lives on in the moment of poverty drenched sleep of life..''- very beautiful!
This is a beautiful story, and I agree certain things are best left pure and uncaptured by the camera...
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