A mother's expectations

Again the water supply had been disconnected. The landlord had warned them about it but they had hoped he would not go ahead with his greedy plans. He was breaking the one tiny utility room in the building to make yet another little apartments and get more tenants. Already there were twenty tenants in the tiny building with four floors, crumbling, dilapidated and dangerous. If ever there were an earthquake, this building would be the first to fall. It could hardy even taken the impact of people walking up and down the staircase. 

There were people sick, dying all over, because most of them were really poor. Only such people would want to stay here, because they could not afford anything else. Some of them had left slums because the bribes got too much. Plus those little huts could not bear the impact of any natural calamity. They had to keep rebuilding their huts all the time.

Guss’s family moved there three years ago. They were paying one thousand rupees for one room and one hall. His mother worked as a maidservant for many families, in a high rise apartment complex close by. His father was a guard for the same complex. Guss’s many siblings were always in and out of schools, taking care of each other while the parents were away, somehow growing up in the crowd.

Today when the water supply got cut off because the utility room had a drum that had to be dislocated, the family was in shambles. They did not even have enough to cook or wash their faces. Such was the value of water or its lack! Guss never thought of it like that, and he wondered why.

Suddenly he knew the answer. His mother had been the shield between any problem and him. She was a strong woman, very hard working. Now as Guss sat looking at her, he felt a familiar sense of awe towards her. As he knew her, she was braver than anyone he knew, stronger than anyone he imagined. The one who family together, happy and healthy, through decades of trials and tribulations. The one who defied days of falseness with her bashful smiles. 

Guss felt very proud of his mother. She was truly one of a kind and there was a lot to earn from her. The family always took her for granted. They never realized the impact she had on their lives. They never thanked her for it. She never expected any thank you too.

Now when she caught him looking at her she just smiled. She had just brought one bucket of water from the tap in the next lane. Guss said he would help her and he picked the bucket. She tried to refuse a lot but he did not listen. This was the least he could do for this wonderful woman.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
Image from pixabay