Yet Beautiful and Proud she stood, as Born to Rule the Storm

The line is from the poem Casabianca. We learnt this in school and I still remember most of the lines. I just substituted the original “He” for “she”.

The headline of this post refers to an old lady I met at Dadar station. (14^th May, 2008 at 7.30 PM).

She was old, really old. She walked with a stoop, but her head was held as high as possible. Supporting her was a small and cute boy (probably her grandson). He was only about 6 years old, but he guided and supported her well.

She wanted to go to Kalyan in a fast train, so two girls told her to go by the 7.47 PM Dadar-Kalyan. The lady couldn’t understand how to reach the other platform, so I took her.

Hell, even I get lost at Dadar station, so how can I expect an old lady to reach there alone? And would she get there in time? Anyways, I offered to carry her bags, but she looked at me and shook her head.

What eyes she had! My God, they were beautiful, green eyes. Eyes that had seen the happiness and grief of life. The wisdom reflected in those eyes was as deep as the sea. Even now those eyes haunt me.

She was really proud and independent, but I took a bag anyways.

When we got to the platform, the damn train was about to leave, so we got into a general compartment. She immediately sat near the door.

We ultimately went to the ladies compartment. This time the kid took one bag. When I asked him for it, he smiled at me and shook his head. Like Granny like Grandson! :D

It was great to meet her. I’ll always remember her and the little boy. They were vulnerable and defenceless, but that didn’t stop them from being independent and proud of their identity.