Who will dry my tears on World Women’s Day

Today is woman’s day and I went through all the struggles that a working woman, a single parent has to go through during a bad phase in life. You know when one is just trying to make ends meet with two scholars as one’s sole responsibility, life is a very big struggle a trial that one faces all alone in life. Even people, who know you as an individual turn away from you, rather do not listen to you.

When my boy became  very ill due to my inability to take him to a hospital and none around for support, I felt shattered. As a cruel joke of  inflation, when one faces a situation with limited liquid cash in hand and one happens to see one’s child continuing to suffer, it is heart breaking , the pain that only a mother can understand. These are the times when the heart cries and the eyes are unable to shed tears. Finally one succumbs to the pressures of life, runs around trying to mobilize liquid cash to take the child to hospital, subduing self pride. My husband who is working abroad has no idea of the daily trials and tribulations. When he calls he expects things to be rosy daily and when he hears things aren’t so, and I unable to take him to hospital, his first question is “why don’t you take him to a government hospital?’ I would have had they provided the right services. If government hospitals here in India were as efficient as they are expected to be why do we find private clinics minting money in the name of various tests from innocent patients? To talk about declining ethical values there is plenty, but here that is not the issue in discussion. During hard times it was natural for me to expect a word of encouragement from my husband but all I received was piercing words of criticism. He said offhandedly, “Though you don’t have money, you do sport a lot of pride.”  Thank you for the remarks I should have said, with a wounded self respect, but all i could say was, ‘Do you have anything else to say?’ Apparently he could say nothing further. When one’s own husband says such words there is more one can expect from the general public.

God understands and he sends help in one way or the other. A friend in need is a friend indeed and I give my heart felt thanks to my best friend and her husband who were a great support morally and monetarily. A woman understood my plight, and came to my rescue atlast. I say this because she immediately arranged for the money and her good husband amidst his busy schedule hand delivered the same. With that money I took my child to the hospital and he was diagnosed and given proper treatment and thus saved from further misery.

When troubles come, it comes together, and that is what had happened in my case too. My phones went dead so I could not make any out going calls. My cell got locked up and I could not retrieve any numbers to call my colleagues and inform about my leave of absence too. To spread salt to my bleeding wound, when I went to my work place after a couple of days, there was more unpleasantness in store for me; for my boss was annoyed at me; wouldn’t listen to my reasons for not informing him my leave of absence. Of course here I take the blame, because of  my fear of more criticism or may be my fear of being misunderstood and later insulted did not allow me to tell him exactly my financial position then. Any way he was hardly listening to my genuine reasons because people often live in their own world and may not listen to your woes. I sat down to explain things to him, as I shed my woes, tears ran down my cheeks, at the cruel joke of fate. Two days later i was rich, with all my cheques cleared and my bank balance bulging, but those two days were trial days in life, that taught me who was who by nature.

 Women like me, are struggling out there in the open world, women who cannot express themselves, women who cannot write a blog to let out their miserable feelings or experiences today on World Women’s Day.

 My word to them is they aren’t alone in the struggles of life. I  pay my tribute to all who those brave women who suffered silently and departed taking their tears with them. They are the unsung heroes of my world. Hail to thee, Soul of a woman that cried on a Women’s Day!

Sumathi Mohan