Walking with an Octogenarian

We recently moved into our new home in a multistoried, multi-tower complex in Gurgaon. It gives me ample opportunity to meet new people from different walks of life. I enjoy meeting people from the same building and a lot of new moms who get their kids to the park.
 
If you are a parent and especially a stay at home mom to a toddler you may be able to relate to the need to speak to some adults after spending most of your time with children. It’s a breath of fresh air to be able to speak to someone in your normal adult voice rather than being the commanding parent or the animated story teller mom or the one speaking in a sing song childish voice to entice your kid to switch off the TV or IPad to join you in a game.
 
Being a mother is indeed the toughest job in the world. There are no weekends, holidays or chai breaks even at times. Your clients (kids) are super demanding, they may need you during the day or night. This is not a project that’s going to end in a few weeks and they will lay demands on your body, mind, soul and heart. You are a Mom 24x7 and you do not even get paid in monetary terms to reward yourself with spa or retail therapy.
 
Anyways, coming back to meeting new people…one evening I had left the kids under the expert care and supervision of my husband and decided to walk to the nearby market. Just as I was leaving I bumped into an old lady from our building. I had met her a couple of times earlier. She was also going to the market and started walking with me.

The crisp white chikankari kurta looked beautiful on her tall slender frame.  She had wrinkles on her face and hands, but there was a beautiful glow to her skin and bright eyes. I imagined how beautiful she must have been in her prime. I am confident that she would have made a lot of heads turn. She was radiating elegance. Such grace and beauty at that age is rare. She spoke to me all through the way, without losing her breath and easily matching her pace with mine. I was amazed.
 

She told me about her two children- her son who is a vascular surgeon, her daughter, her grandchildren and two lovely great grandchildren. I could hear the happiness and contentment in her voice as she spoke about her greatest assets, her children. She had a soft smile on her face all along. She reminded me a lot about my own grandmother. As we were about to part ways at the market, I could not resist and asked her how old she was and complimented her on her fitness. She laughed.

 
That evening my thoughts kept going back to her leaving behind a smile on my face. I wondered if there would be a day in my life when I would be an old woman and my children would be grown up independent individuals. Then maybe I would be able to talk about my children with equal pride and satisfaction.
 
Maybe the feeling of accomplishment that you get from watching your children succeed is much greater than what you feel about your own achievements. That feeling is probably worth all the sleepless nights, sacrifices and frustrations in the wonderful journey of parenting.