Real life stories told by women themselves..

The other day, when I visited my husband’s ancestral home, I forgot my mobile at home. Luckily!
Instead of checking emails and scrolling on Facebook, I helped my 86 year old mother-in-law (Amma as everybody calls her meaning mother in Malayalam) to hang up her washed saris on the laundry line. Meanwhile we could engage in a conversation and I could once again listen to her life story. It goes like this…
She was principal of a primary school for 30 years

and the main source of income for the family of 8. She, her husband, a drawing teacher, 4 daughters and 2 sons – my husband being the youngest. As wife and mother, she had to manage the whole household apart from her teaching job at the local school. This was in India in the 60s and 70s. She had a “babysitter”, whom she calls servant. Babysitter in the 60s in India means a woman without much qualification, who is able to keep an eye on children. She has repeatedly said that many times she cried while going to work thinking of her children left behind only with the “babysitter”.

Her school was 2,5 km away. At that time there was no public transport. She used to run to school as she was always late after finishing up her morning household chorus. Because it was not decent enough for a lady teacher to run, she used to slow down in front of shops and houses and then again speed up in between, she told me with a half-smile. The family had a large piece of agricultural land with many coconut trees. All coconut trees had to be watered with bucket by hand.

Conclusion…
1. Amma is with her 86 years of age probably the healthiest of the whole family.
2. I feel grateful for getting a chance to witness and record these kind of stories and having the life I do have.
3. I feel compassion with all women, who had to endure all sorts of hardships in their lives. Only by reconnecting to our feminine essence, we can heal our own maternal lineage as well as the women around us.
4. It always comes back to this… With all modern facilities like watering systems, different kinds of education, certified babysitters etc. we are more unhappy and stressed.
#saktisadhana