A life of struggles and values - Remembrance

A lady from small temple town Chamundi Hills started her journey in 1948 to end abruptly in 1991.

While being born to a priest’s family, her ambitions to do something for herself and her family led her to study and start work in Mysore in 1966. Mysore, then a small palace town and Chamundi Hills, a remote village, there was no conveyance during those years and she used to walk down and up 1000 steps and couple of kms each way for work. She used to also do home chores when time was available. 

She helped all on her way and never had a complaint but a solution to problems. She worked hard and true. Her way of life was to help others with a smile on her face always.

I spent a very brief time of 17 years with her and used to go to her office while she was at work. She was focused and never addressed to my numerous questions while at work but to answer to all my queries once her work time was over. 

She worked as a cashier at KEB (Karnataka Electricity Board) during those years and used to handle customers money. There were many big industries like Vikrant tyres, Ideal Jawa, Triveni engineering works and many more. Labourers used to get paid in cash during those years and they used to pay the bill amount in cash. There were times when people have left additional cash with her to have confidence that she would return post counting. Truly so, she used to diligently keep aside the additional money they had paid aside to be given back to them. 

There was always confusion in my mind on returning the money back as we ourselves were still building up our life. She used to tell me that we should respect others hard earned money and it will return to us in kind. I never understood until Aug 9 1991 when she passed away in an accident. The amount of people, support, which poured in, was heart wrenching. 

The values she put in me still continue to exist despite losing her 24 years back.