I was busy planning for my wedding day. I took my mother along for the big fat wedding’s shopping. I knew she would be a wonderful companion and advisor. I love her choices. So, we went on a spree. We reached a busy market in Delhi on a busy Sunday evening. We started with the purchasing of clothes. In our culture, we don’t just buy clothes for the bride, but for entire extended family as well. In my case, my mother had a list handy. So, all in all were looking out to buy some odd 30 women’s dress material and about the similar numbers of Gents clothing too.
I know that’s a lot. But, this is what we have followed for ages and this give and take will be an essential part of wedding rituals.
So, my mother approached the shop keeper, asking him to show the best dress material and we selected a few. We practically made a pile of those shortlisted ones on one side of the counter and asked the shopkeeper to pack 35 dresses. I was surprised. We carefully made the list and now my mother was buying extra five. I looked at her expecting some response. She just smiled and said nothing. Mothers!
We finished our shopping for that day and finally left for home. After having a cup of tea, she started showing the shopping to my father. My curiosity was on a peak and I finally popes the question.
“Why have we bought these extra dresses mummy?”
My mother said, “Beta, we all buy things for our families and friends, buy what about people who actually help us and stay only behind the scenes?”
I got puzzled.
To clarify, she further suggested, ” These nice dresses are for our Domestic help like our cleaning aunty, the woman who comes every morning at our door to collect the garbage, and the poor woman at the temple. ”
Her answer just opened my eyes. In this world, we work seamlessly with the help of such hard-working women, who cannot even afford to live in a proper house. These women who work endlessly from dusk till dawn for a few hundreds, and contribute financially to the big family consisting of so many kids, truly deserve some token of appreciation. And on a day like my wedding, if I could give them something nice which is out of their reach otherwise, then this will be the real blessing. All thanks to my mother. She is really thoughtful and wise. She believes in treating everyone like a human being and with love and respect.
When we will understand these small and sensitive issues of our Indian society, we will actually be contributing towards women empowerment in a real sense.
Let’s pledge that we will treat the underprivileged ladies right and just. They deserve nothing less than this. They are the backbones of our society. They are women too .. Think.
If you have any more suggestions, please tag #SheNeedsLoveToo and spread awareness about Wishes and Blessings the NGO, that has initiated the campaign leading to opening of their first old age home for women on 25th April 2018. Let’s create awareness on how important these women are in our lives.
Picture credit :WishesandBlessings
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