Ammi

This is a sequel to the previous blog http://punctuationsandmore.blogspot.in/2015/07/mercy-at-crossroads.html

 Hello, I’m Mehrunisa

It’s been 24 years since

Another man in white clothes

Father Menezes  took me home

St. Catherine’s Home

From the roadside existence

To a shelter, school to read

Food to eat, a bed to sleep

Father lovingly called me La Nina

Literally ‘The Child’

Poetically ‘The Cool One’

As against the blistering hot El Nino

Father was truly a father to me

In a cloak of white, my saviour

Not all men in white are bad

Colour of clothes

Do not tell the complete story

It is what is inside

That truly matters.

Today I’ve grown

I’ve a job that pays

And a home to stay as well

So for me now only one thing matters

Bringing Ammi home

For 23 years she’s lived without me

She’s lived with bit of a morsel a day

Standing at crossroads

A bowl in hand

With no place to live

And no place to return at day end

For her, time stood still

The same crossing all these years

People there had grown

Kids who sat at back seats

Now have steering wheels in hand

Those with small cars

Have moved on to larger fanciful ones

They all have seen Ammi

Grow old and frail

Standing the same way

Just bent down a little now

Some saw her with generosity

Some with apathy and disdain

But today is the day

When I am bringing her home

Home to her daughter

She’s coming to Her Home today.

Ammi just won’t stop crying

She just can’t believe her fortune

Her little one’

Her Mehrunisa’s grown up now

Has a house with a name plate

Her dream had come true

That her little one will never stand

At crossroads, at mercy of others

She kissed the doorstep to my house

Jokingly even rang the bell

Laughed aloud

As she even knocked the door

And as she took her first step in

Stood still for long

Just the eyes roving

Admiring in awe

Allah Meherbaan

God is Merciful.

Ammi needed a bath

So I took her in myself

Scrubbed her feet

Over and over again

Years of dirt

Fool that I was trying

To wash them in one go

Held her arms

Palms that had gone so hard

Pressed them against my cheeks

Felt the warmth of a mother’s love

Come through her touch

Washed her hair

Over and over again

She laughed

Seeing the shower above

With water pouring in droplets

It reminded her of rains on the streets

When Lord God himself rained

Poured down on her uncovered body

Maybe I couldn’t see her tears

Getting washed away under the shower

Dried her with one towel, then another

Draped her in a new sari

Oh how beautiful she looked today

She was tall dark & beautiful

For years this beauty had been held back

World was oblivious

But today she is mine

Mine to see and care for

And tomorrow will be ours.

Ammi wouldn’t say it

But she was hungry

So I made some rice quickly

Put it on a plate

Added some gravy to it

She again started crying

Much more than mere sobs

She had never had such a meal before

A half eaten bread

A spoilt fruit

Some crumbs from trash

Is all she had had till then

With shaking fingers

She stretched her hands ahead

To hold the plate

I held it back

Then took the rice in my hand

Fed her myself

Ammi just gulped it down

With water after every take of food

Today she was my Baby

And me her Ammi.

My talkative Ammi

Went silent that day

Unable to speak or

Won’t speak at all

Tired she looked

So walked her to my bed

Made her sit

Asked her to lie down

She did, put her head down

The softness of the pillow hurt

She shook it off

After a while

She mimed with her hands

Expressed a wish

She wished to sleep on the floor

With the light on

Same way as she would

Under the street lights

All I could offer her

A clean spread below and no more

It made her happy

She needed me, I felt

She’ll come around soon

Adjust adapt to the new life

With her little one.

I couldn’t sleep that night

When the sunlight came through

Quickly got up

Made some nice tea

Took some Marie biscuits

It was time to wake her up

Ammi Utho

Ammi Utho

She wouldn’t move

How deeply in slumber she was

Years of solitude

Years of pain

One good night’s sleep

In a house of her own seemed endless

Ammi Utho

Ammi Utho

She just won’t wake up

Turned her

Touched her

Felt her pulse

Understood the greatest truth of life

Ammi will not wake up

Meri  Ammi no more.

Called for a hearse

A long black one

Put her on it

Sat with the driver

Took the car through

The same crossroad

Where Ammi stood for years

Suddenly felt the traffic stop

Stop for Ammi to pass by

Those who never stopped before

Stopped today

Ammi’s first ride

Ammi’s last ride

Ammi’s ride to Heavenly Gates

Her dream fulfilled

Of a ride in a big car

Then the traffic moved on

My life moved on

No stone for Ammi

At the crossroads

Why should it be anyway

Who was she?

Just my Ammi and no more

Now I always keep my car windows down

Showing

Little Mercy at Big Crossroads.

SS