She takes care of my daughter!  

Kalyani-bai, a sixty-plus woman, well-dressed in her blue nine yard saree, sat aristocratically waiting for her turn at the eye check-up camp organized by Sankara, with Light of Life NGO at Dhasai, a small village in Maharashtra.

She was shy, didn’t speak much, but had the most beautiful demeanour and bright eyes.

She became a natural model for us, as we were clicking pictures at the camp.

As we conversed, she let out that she has a son and daughter-in-law at home.

We joked with her whether she was a caring mother-in-law, or a strict one. 

A senior man sitting behind, was watching us and listening to our chatter with Kalyani-bai.

On hearing our question, he quipped “She takes care of my daughter!”

We looked surprisingly at him.

“My daughter is married to her son.” he explained.  

“Today, her son was busy and could not bring her here for the camp. So I brought her here, she was complaining of blurry eyesight.”

“She is my samdhan. She takes care of my daughter just like her own. It’s my duty to take care of her too!”  Kalyani-bai just smiled shyly.

Indeed, our world can be carved with some most beautiful and unusual relationships, only if we all were just kind to each other!

It’s a lesson learnt from Kalyani-bai, as we wish her all the best for her eye surgery.