Little known star

In the Global Calendar, March is dedicated to women of substance and achievers. Such women must be identified, honoured and valued even inside a small hut.

These days I spend most of my time on the balcony of my apartment. We even have a treadmill placed there as we super senior citizens are not able to go out for a walk due to Covid!

Most of my jobs are done on my balcony only and I call it my haven. Whenever the three-wheeler garbage auto stops near our apartment complex, I watch it curiously because the way they separate wet, dry and plastic is interesting. Every time I see them I feel like lauding their effort. Recently, I saw a familiar face near the garbage van, giving instructions to the workers, but could not place when and where I had seen him. So, I called my husband and pointed out the man to him. Recognising him instantly, my husband (after wearing his mask) went down to meet the chap. Maintaining social distance, they began talking to each other, during which the man looked up at our balcony and greeted me with folded hands.

Later when my husband came up he narrated his conversation. About twenty years back, when we were living in Banashankari, the same man Jaggesh had been engaged by city corporation to collect garbage, painfully dragging his heavily padded right foot which was gangrene-affected. After work, he would come to our compound for some much-needed rest when we would often give him some snacks. Touched by his pathetic condition, my husband introduced him to his specialist doctor friend. Soon afterwards we lost touch with Jaggesh as we moved over to Basavanagudi.

Jaggesh too was visibly happy to see us after a long time. He narrated the tale about his Jaipur foot and how his girlfriend Yashu, a daily wage worker, who loved him ardently, had urged him to undergo amputation of his affected leg, nursing him all through. The grateful Jaggesh married the girl of his love Yashu who brought ‘yashas’ to his life. Now, because of his Jaipur foot, he had got a supervisor’s job on compassionate grounds while wife Yashu is an aaya in that very hospital where he had got his Jaipur foot fixed. Also, she has gifted him with two lovely children and their’s is a happy family now.

He gives all the credit to his wife and calls her the Lakshmi of his life. Yashu grew up in an orphanage, she is seen as a model, beaming the message that human divinity is above the social disposition of individuals. May their tribe increase!