Those of you who are from Kolkata, specially from South Kolkata must have visited the Highland Park Metropolitan Mall at least once. Then you must have noticed an elderly couple, who are beggars, approaching people who sit in front of the mall for help and money. For the rest, let me explain you, this couple, the man would be around 70 while the woman would be around 65 is a common sight for people who hang around the place in the evening and I am off course one of them. The old man cannot walk properly and he needs his wife’s assistance to take a step. As this place is very near to my residence, I use to go and spend some time in the mall; it has a great cafeteria and a multiplex, Fame, along with Big Bazaar and other branded shops and departmental stores. It’s indeed a good place to hang around with friends and spend some good time.
As every weekend I visit this place, sometime with friends, sometime alone spending some quality time with myself, this elderly couple is very familiar for me and when-ever I do not rush towards the multiplex or I am not busy, I give them money, most of the cases more than what they expect. So they also started recognizing me and whenever they see me, come to me with faces full of hope and high on spirit, happily they accept the money and give me their blessings.
A couple of weekends ago, I was sitting in front of the mall and killing some time as the movie that I was targeting was still 30 minutes to be started. It was just the last weekend ahead of the festival time, Durga Puja, which is a huge festival in Bengal. So people were rushing for the last minute shopping and hence the mall was very crowded. Everyone is busy buying gifts for near and dear one. As usual I saw the couple, and it does not need a high imagination level to guess the dress they wear. Old, dirty, somehow managed to save their dignity. But that day it stuck to my notice that the blouse the old lady was wearing was in it’s last stage of survival. It was kept falling down through her shoulder and she tried hard to manage it and at the same time tried to be a support for her husband who’s one leg is damaged. No one around that place was interested in the dress of an elderly beggar and everyone was busy buying new dresses. Myinner soul ordered me to do something and so when they approached me I gave her two hundred rupees notes and told her “ Nani, please buy a new dress for you for this Puja” When they left me, I could say eye-dropsin her eyes, don’t know who was responsible for that, happiness or sorrow. It was time for my movie and hence that incident faded away from my mind.
Yesterday, Sunday, I again visited the place, decided to check the movie Rascal, I knew it’s a complete gross but still I needed something to kill my time. Casually I checked for the couple and yes, I found them. But what I found was totally a shock for me!! That same blouse was still there hanging in her skeleton like frame, but her husband was wearing a new blue shirt!!! It was very easily noticeable that the old man was very happy with his new shirt, a sense of pride was radiating from him. She came to me in a smiling face and said “I could not present a new shirt to your Nana for a long time, many Durga Pujas gone without a new dress for him. So I don’t know how can I thank you, this time he has a new dress”. WOW…WOW…WOW…
Believe me friends, I have seen many romantic movies in my life, but nothing could beat this love story. I thank you God for creating such a beautifulfeeling for human kind.
