I learnt that a person living in that house had passed away. Several people had been entering the house to pay homage to the deceased person and several others were coming out after paying homage.
I thought that the deceased person should be someone prominent.
I asked one of the people standing outside, "Who was this person?"
He said, "Kalyani madam."
I have not heard that name before. I was reluctant to ask who Kalyani madam was. It seemed that if I asked that question, that person would reply, 'Don't you know Kalyani madam?'
I moved away and stationed myself near a group of people talking. I thought that by listening to them, I could know something about Kalyani madam.
By standing there for fifteen minutes and listening to the conversation that took place between them, this was the information I gathered about Kalyani madam.
Kalyani madam was not a prominent person as I had presumed her to be, She was a housewife belonging to a middle class family. She was not highly educated. She had never held any office. She was living in that house with her husband. The couple had no children.
Why was that so many people had come to pay homage to her?
To find an answer to this question, I had to spend some more time standing there and listen to some more people.
"One day, when I was returning from the school, Kalyani aunty was standing at the doorstep of her house. Looking at me, she told me, 'Why do you look so tired, my child? Come inside, have some water and go.'
"After giving me water to drink, she asked me how my day was at the school.
"From that day, I had a habit of visiting her every day, on my way home from the school. I would talk to her about what happened in the school that day. She would listen to me patiently with a smile. Even my mother doesn't have the patience to listen to my narrations. She would often cut me off saying, 'Enough. Go and do your homework!' I have never seen another person like Kalyani aunty who was filled with so much concern and love for others."
This was stated by a school-going girl.
"I was sitting in the temple and narrating my woes to a person known to me. Kalyani, who happened to listen to me, came to me and said encouragingly, 'Now that you have come to the temple and prayed to God, your problems will go away. Have faith.' She was not acquainted with me at that time.
"I was moved by her concern for me. Looking at her smiling face, I had an instant liking for her. After that, we became close. She has helped me a lot.
"Once I told her that no one at my home had the time to take me to a doctor for a medical check-up. She took me to the hospital for doing the medical check-up. Like this, she has done a lot of help to me. I have never seen another person who had so much love and concern even for people not acquainted with her."
This was stated by an old lady.
"If someone in this street was not home, I would deliver the letters and parcels addressed to them to Kalyani madam. She would receive them with a smile and hand them over to the people concerned, later. She would often ask me about the welfare of my family members.
"Every time I made a delivery to her, she would offer me water, saying that since I was exposed to the sun's rays throughout the day, I should drink a lot of water to ensure that I don't get dehydrated. Some days, she has given me coffee or buttermilk even. People seeing this might have thought that I was a relative! That was the extent of affection she showered on me" said a delivery boy of a courier service.
There were similar outpourings from other people. What I gathered from those spontaneous expressions of grief by people, including those who had only a limited association with Kalyani madam, was that having affection and concern for others had been a way of life for Mrs. Kalyani.
No wonder that people who had been recipients of her love and affection gathered at her doorsteps to pay homage to her immediately after learning about her demise.
It appeared to me that though Mrs. Kalyani had physically left this world, she would forever dwell in the hearts of the people on whom she had showered love and affection.
Intending to pay homage to that lady whose heart was filled with love during the time she had lived in this world, I stepped into her house.
Section 1
The Path of Virtue
Love and Affection
enbodu iyaindha thodarbu.
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