Libre Magazine

Look for the opportunity to do what is in your strength and ability to do when you can and how you can. Just a little story to share with you all today. Hoping that it will inspire you in one way or another.

It was just a regular Thursday afternoon last month and I was sitting in the library reading an article from “Today’s Parent” waiting for my youngest son’s summer program to end for the day. I couldn’t help but notice a lady standing nearby looking for a seat with some reading material in her hand. As I happened to look up, she gave me a friendly smile and sat down. I didn’t really think much of it and really didn’t respond. I was never really one to initiate a conversation anyway and so I continued reading.

After only a few minutes she said to me, “Are you an Indian or a Pakistani?” and I replied “Pakistani” with a smile and wondering to myself how gutsy she was to start up a conversation just like that. Then she started talking about how often she came to the library and what she liked to do in her spare time. She happened to be reading a magazine of interest to me, called “FilmFare”. She shared her views and told me how much she hated the Bollywood scene and how Bollywood actors/actresses were so artificial and mesmerized by the west in order to be just like them.

I agreed to that definitely and we went on chatting just like that. She introduced herself as Reena. She was a rather sweet and simple lady. So genuine and a very warm person. She had class and poise. Her command of the English language was quite impressive. She mentioned she belonged to a well-educated aristocratic family. Anyways, I guess she enjoyed my company so much that day that she wanted to meet again. I had no hang-ups about that since my son’s program was going to run for three more Thursdays in a row during the month.

She must have felt comfortable talking to me for the reason that she decided to go on telling her life story in the second week of our meeting. This time around we met and decided to sit outside the library on a park bench. The weather was so pleasant and breezy that afternoon and a nice day for another lengthy chat. Today there was much more to hear from her.

After she asked me about my parents, I had mentioned to her that my father had passed away in August 2001 due to a sudden heart attack. She offered her condolences and right after that she mentioned that her father had committed suicide. We were silent as I just looked right at her. She became emotional and had tears rolling down her cheeks. She said only 3 days before her birthday he did this. I asked her about her mother at that point. She had mentioned that her mother and father had divorced since her mother had run off to Germany and had married third time around. She was only 8 years old at the time when her mother left her and her father behind for a new life. She said her father regretted marrying her mother in the first place as it was her mother’s second marriage to her father. I couldn’t believe it.

At that point she mentioned that her mother was a multi-millionaire and had died leaving not a single penny behind for her daughter. In fact, when she left her husband and her daughter, she never looked back. What mother could do such a thing? Reena said that it was obvious that she was born with no maternal instinct. It was rather interesting and very surprising. Now the father was left alone to take care of her and he was also a very busy man as he held a position in the army at the time as well. He could not look after his daughter the way he would have wanted to. So he sent her off to boarding school. She then one day ran away from boarding school and at that time he decided that he would have to bring her up himself for the time he could spend with her. He was a mother and a father to her but was very lonely within. Reena was never allowed to talk to boys while growing up or even be seen near boys. She never was allowed to wear makeup either. Her father raised her in a very humble and simple way. That is why she carried herself so well even at the age of 46.

Then her father sent her to Canada and after a year or so she went back to visit him. He was very ill and had prepared her for the worse. She could sense that he would not live long especially after he knew that now that he was bed-ridden, there was no one that could take care of him as he aged. He feared for Reena to be living a single woman’s life in India and so he suggested that Canada would be a better place for her to live. After a year of her arrival back to Canada, her father’s good friend phoned Reena one day and told her that her father was no more. Just a few days before her 35th birthday. I was so emotional. She had no brothers and sisters and was an only child. She was not married and had no kids. She was just living with someone and spending each day of her life facing many hardships and obstacles.

We then met again on the third Thursday of July and chatted again. She said to me during our conversation that I reminded her of a few Bollywood actresses. I just began to giggle because that was never the first time I was told that. It seemed like wherever I went I resembled someone or another without fail. She went on to match me up with Naghma who was acting in Bollywoood during the early 90’s and then Sridevi and last but not least Nitu Singh. While in conversation she also happened to mistakenly call me Naghma a few times to which I just laughed again. She said to me, “You know if you were single, you could have gotten anyone”. I smiled again and just enjoyed the compliments and her company. It was nice to see a smile on her face that displayed contentment and ease. That day she happened to ask me if I knew how to cook and of course I said yes I do. She requested for me to make her biryani. Of course how could I say ‘no’ to that anyway and agreed on making some biryani for her and bringing it for her in the fourth week of our meeting.

Now the last week was different. I was stuck without a car and the night before I was too exhausted from the whole day to be able to make a pot of biryani. On the other hand, I promised her that I would bring it for her and it would have been our last meeting since she was planning to find a new place and move out of the area. What a strange story it all was and almost like a dream. I decided to take a taxi and keep my promise. I picked up some biryani on my way to the library and arrived there finally to see her hoping that she would show up. I had a feeling she would anyway.

After telling her I brought it for her, her face just lighted up with joy. She was so delighted and thankful. She thanked me over and over again and said ” you know Naghma, oh sorry Rafia that no one had ever done anything like this for me “. I said it was perfectly fine and that I wanted to do it. I knew how I felt and it was a great feeling within. A feeling so unexplainable. That day she also confessed on telling me about how the size of her stomach was growing. I asked her about it and she explained that it was a tumor. I was again in shock but tried to remain calm at least for her sake. I asked her why she didn’t get an operation and why she let it go for the last 3 years in order for it to grow in size. She replied, “Oh it will go away and besides who will take care of me post surgery. I was very emotional at this point and speechless. I had no words to explain how I felt after hearing that from her. She said “I don’t have anybody to miss me whle I am gone. So what if I die who cares”. She told me to pray for her and that may God NOT be ready to grant her a long life. She said she was just too lonely now but learned how to pass her time over the years. She said a single life for an Indian woman living anywhere was just too hard. She explained that anyone would take advantage at the very first chance they would get. Again I had no words for her.

She managed to finish half the biryani that day and said she would leave the rest for her dinner that night. After the day ended, it was time to say goodbye, but not forever. I had made up my mind to keep in contact with her as much as I could just to make sure she was doing ok especially in regards to her health which did concern me when she mentioned it so nonchalantly that afternoon. I just could not forget how we just ended up meeting and talking. I always knew that there was a reason for everything and it just so happened to be.

She then ended up calling me that same night and left a message on my voicemail. She went on thanking me over and over and said “God Bless You” and may you always be happy. She asked me again to pray for her and her health. She again said how no one had ever done anything like that for her ever and that I was the first one who cared and listened. Upon hearing that, I feel I was rewarded.

The last thought I did have that day was that, it is true that if a person does something that is out of the kindness of their heart, he/she should not go on boasting about it and to that I always agreed. However, today I feel that if we share our life experiences with others and our good and bad deeds than perhaps we are leading by example, right?