A KALEIDOSCOPE CALLED 'LIFE'

It was just another afternoon. My maid was finishing up her chores.

She is a strong woman, worked all her life,
struggled to make a living, to make ends meet,
2 sons and a daughter, her husband a alchoholic,
Every single morning, with a smile she does greet.

I was going to visit my mother's place. I step out of my house and walk down to catch an auto rickshaw. As always I cross the market, busy as always, to get to the main road.
The place is buzzing with activity, sellers, buyers bargaining, moms dragging kids and their shopping, kids returning from school, cyclists and much more. But one person stands out in all this chaos.

Sitting on a gunny bag, a scrawny old woman,
Selling sad looking lemons, very few I must say,
Munching a little something, trying to sell her wares,
Trying to make a living, braving the sun everyday.

I then get into the auto rickshaw, the regular chap. He chats as we move along.

He is so cheerful, and works very hard,
About cost of educating kids he talks, and petrol prices,
He had two kids, lost one to the tsunami,
We have to get past the past, whatever the crisis.

I stop by at the tailor's shop. It is a small one room shop with 2 people on sewing machines on one side, a table on the other, one sits on the floor stitching buttons. I talk to my tailor who stands by the table, cutting material.

Here is a man, old enough to be my grandfather,
Is compelled to work at this age, not a day of rest,
He has no vision in one eye, the other is a blur,
He smiles at me as I leave, I feel a knot in my chest.

We stop at a signal. A little boy approaches me with some coloring books and begs me to buy a few.

He runs and stops cars, and pleads to sell his wares,
A small little boy, he is no more than ten,
My heart goes out to him, I buy a few from him,
He ought to be in school, not standing in the sun.

As I reach home I see my grandfather sitting in the living room, reading...as always. My grandmother hobbles in and asks me the same question she asks me every single time i visit...what will you eat?

I see my grandfather, he battled cancer at 75,
A surgery he had, chemo and radiation he survived,
he is now 85 and earning, a self employed consultant,
Been married for 62 years, on strength of family he thrived.

My husband calls, to ask if i reached safely.

He works in IT, they dont have office hours,
He is stuck his laptop, it does not matter night or day,
Strives to succeed, to keep his family happy,
he is a self made man, what else do I say.

Life's lessons are numerous. Some we see, some we see through others eyes. I look around and see different people and their lives, like a kaleidoscope the colours are similar but patterns different, everytime it turns around.

I learnt to appreciate what I have,
I learnt not to take things for granted,
I learnt to take life as it comes,
I learnt to thank god for my health and happiness,
I learnt to empathise, to be productive and to spread happiness,
I learnt to live.

I am sharing what 'I Saw and I Learnt' at BlogAdda.com in association with DoRight.in.

This post is the winner of a contest :)