How many of you thought I was calling out to Maha Vishnu ? How many others thought I was trying to imitate Narada Muni ? Well, I was doing neither …
Today morning I used Amma’s phone to call the tailor, a neighbor, who stitches my blouses and falls for my saris in Hyderabad. I had called her once earlier from Amma’s phone and she mistakenly called me “aunty” thinking it was Amma. While I qualify for the tag of an “aunty” she felt very bad and apologized. Today when I called, the smart woman that she is, she just said hello and waited to see who was calling from Amma’s phone. I loved that presence of mind and smartness.
Narayana is an inspiring young woman who breaks all stereotypes, starting with her name :). Her father died soon after she was born, and her mother raised her and her elder brother. Her mother had a few cows and managed to eke out a living selling milk. She would supply milk to Amma and Appa and that’s how they got introduced to Narayana. She was in school then. After school she was married off and her husband died shortly afterwards in an accident. Everybody blamed her for the ill luck saying it was her bad luck that her father died as soon as she was born and now her husband.
Her mother tried telling her that she should manage a few cows and become like her. Narayana didn’t like the idea at all and came and asked Appa for a loan to buy a sewing machine. She wanted to learn tailoring and become a tailor. Appa loaned her the money and she became a tailor. In the meantime, a good natured sensible man saw her at some place and decided to marry her, inspite of her “unlucky” tag. They married and now have two children – a boy and a girl who are studying engineering in two different colleges a couple of years apart.
Narayana drives a scooter and has also learnt to drive a car. Her husband does construction work and they have their own house on two levels. One level has been let out so that they get some rent and Narayana continues to be a tailor and earns well. She is the one I called in the morning. Ever since I heard about her background, I have stopped getting my blouses stitched anywhere else.
Look at that beaming smile and more power to her kind of woman !! We accept so many labels that the society heaps on us and limit ourselves, but here’s a young woman who has had the gumption to take life head on and live limitless. I took her permission to take her photograph and she found the whole thing very funny :). She tried to smile but broke into a big laugh.