An Unforgettable Way-side Scene

An Unforgettable Wayside Scene
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In front of a star hotel by the wayside she sat -------her face the very image of all the suffering she had undergone in her young age. She looked miserable and distraught in her torn saree, which she had carelessly thrown over her lean body. As she watched the passers –by she did not even bother to stretch her hands for alms though it was clear that she was expecting something from them. She was in her late stage of pregnancy and what shocked one most was the sight of a tiny kid, just a few months old, crawling around her –The child was doing summersaults and doing its best to attract the attention of its mother who hardly ever noticed it.. There was no semblance of a smile on the woman’s face as her little one continued its gimmicks making childish sounds and laughing innocently .She was totally unmoved and indifferent. Some pedestrians flung a few coins at her but none wanted to know the reason for her grief or rather everyone felt it would be futile to probe into the depth of her sorrow

For many days after I saw this scene my mind was restless. I pondered over the same question; what were the thoughts that passed through the mind of that woman as she sat impassively there. Was she cursing the man who was responsible for her present state? Was she thinking of the father of the little one frolicking around her though he had never bothered to see his progeny. ?One could hardly guess the feelings of this woman who looked so emotionless To me she represented the whole class of suffering womenfolk who become victims to the nocturnal antics of selfish men