The Story of a Living Legend



 

‘Bhavayya, hegiddeeri’? Cheerful as always, she greeted me. I looked at her, frail and fragile, tiny and bony, wearing a light colored full-sleeve shirt and blue jeans trouser, with a boyish hair-do, she looked a very confident and strong character.

In a corrosively selfish world, dominated and driven by ‘what-is-in-it-for-me’ principle, here is the story of self-less soul who conquered the tricky mind, setting aside her personal ambitions to fight a bitter battle as she so profoundly protects, shields and nurses her aged and ailing parents. For them, she has been the only ray of hope.

 Hailing from an unknown village, with just a matriculate to show for education, she set her foot in Bengaluru some three decades back. She joined a beauty parlor as an assistant. There she learned the various skills of a beautician. Having gained some experience, she dared to open a beauty parlor of her own. In a very short time, she became very successful in her profession. She also started offering door-step services, visiting households. Very talkative by nature, she managed to win her clients’ hearts. It wasn’t long before she became financially strong. So strong that she invited her three sisters to join her, yet another evidence of her self-less soul, magnifying her magnanimity.

Just as she was cruising along, a tragedy befell. Her parents became ill. She lost no time in bringing her ill parents to Bengaluru. She took it upon herself to provide medical care to them. Despite her best efforts, their health deteriorated. As they became confined to bed, she lent her care and comfort, abandoning her profession regardless of her dwindling financial resource. She didn’t give up. If anything, it steeled her mind further as she single-handedly made sure that her mother, who became terminally ill by then, got all the care that she could provide and that her mother could hope for. In her final moments, whether she remembered her daughter’s immense love, caring, comfort and sacrifices is inconsequential. What is truly inspiring and legendary is the fact that she showed character that is unparallel. She showed compassion in every sense of the term. She continues to personify human bondage as she continues relentlessly and resolutely in caring for her terminally ill father.  Uma, you are a living legend!

 

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