THESE EYES HAVE SEEN THE WORLD

It was during one of the functions that I had attended, where I witnessed an incident which has stayed with me ever since.

A relative had invited us for their daughter’s wedding.

When the auspicious day came, all the near and dear ones gathered.

Families started coming in, music was being played, there was fun, chit-chat and people meeting each other. A scene that I had witnessed several times as a child and enjoyed it as well. As time passed by, the area became crowded.

Then a family arrived and along with them came an elderly lady (maybe in her late 80’s). She was not able to get down from the car, few people helped her get down. She was not able to stand, so few people had to support her from both sides. She was not able to walk, so a wheelchair was arranged. Obviously, everyone’s attention went to see a troubled soul trying to make it to the function hall. Hearing from other people standing nearby, we understood that she was a distant relative of the bride (almost a great grand mother kind of relationship).

Being teenagers, my friends and I got into a sarcastic banter with someone saying “look at the interest level of this old woman, even at this age, she wants to visit functions and parties”, someone else said “ because of one person, ten people had to be engaged to take care of her, what is the point in coming like this?”, another said “ happily she can stay at home and take rest, why does she have to take so much pain to come?”, to which, someone replied “food, my friend….food….the love for food takes you to places” and all of us burst into laughter (I was guilty of cracking few jokes as well, which I regret today).

The auspicious time was near, the priest was ready with his rituals, the family members were still welcoming guests and other relatives. We could also see that the old lady had settled on a wheelchair somewhere far from the crowd. Someone told us that she could not take the sound of the drum beat and doctor had advised her to stay away from loud music. Now this became a new joke for us.

Suddenly we could hear some commotion. Upon approaching the stage, we understood that the bride’s father had a mini-facial paralysis attack and he had fallen down, unconscious. The bride seeing the condition of her father, ran towards him and was trying to give him support. All close family members were trying to provide first-aid and manage the situation, some were trying to arrange for a doctor, others running here and there. There was panic, there was commotion.

While all this was going on, we could hear few family members requesting the priest to stay calm. What had happened in the meanwhile was when the bride and her family members were taking care of the bride’s father who, though slowly, had regained consciousness, but was extremely weak and was hardly able to speak, the priest had announced twice that the auspicious time was at hand and will soon be over. Since the bride refused to leave her father at that condition, the priest waited and decided to call off the pooja as the auspicious time was over. He got up and announced that that the pooja cannot happen now as the time was over. As he got up and started to leave, other family members rushed towards him literally begging not to do so. Afterall, the guests had come, the groom and his family were there and the cruel society would not spare them if the marriage did not happen.

The priest was adamant and told all the reasons as to why the marriage cannot happen now.

All of us were in a state of shock. All we could hear was family members wailing and lamenting. Some of them cursing the would- be bride as a sign of bad luck. Literally, the bride’s mother was begging to the priest, requesting him to do something.

Nothing to change the priest’s mind and he declared to the guests and members that it is over now. Even the groom and his family were upset with the bride and her family and decided to leave the place.

At that moment, some people brought the old lady in the wheelchair. We were really frustrated to see her as there was no need for her to come here as well. Already the situation was out of control.

Then she spoke.

Initially, when we heard her while she was getting down from the car, her voice was feeble and hardly audible, this time it seemed as if she was a different person. She had a strange command in her voice.

She called the priest by name and called him towards her. For the first time, I saw the priest showing signs of nervousness. She asked him the reason as to why the pooja cannot be performed. The priest gave some reasons and clauses from the Shashtras (holy book) and told her about the auspicious time being over.

This is when we saw a completely different side to the old feeble lady’s personality. She recited various shlokas from the Vedas and explained the interpretation of each one of them. To the shock of everyone, she scolded the priest like a child for not understanding the true meaning of the shastra.  She explained the exceptions to each rule. She also took names of some of the most renowned priests of her time who conducted marriages in difficult and exceptional situations.

She also called the groom and his family and scolded them for insulting the bride and her family. She literally scolded them saying they don’t deserve such a nice woman.

Then as if she was the chief priest, she announced to everyone that the bride was taking care and comforting her father who had fallen unconscious. She was doing her ‘greatest service’ at that time and instead of seeing the goodness in her, some people called her a sign of bad luck.

We all felt as if some supernatural intervention had taken over the place. All of us, including the priest, were dumbstruck.

She literally threatened to curse the priest and the groom’s family for bringing humiliation to the bride and for their lack of humanity. The very next moment, the priest was profusely apologizing to her for his act. He begged her not to curse him and so did the groom and his family.

The last line I heard her speak was “These eyes have seen the world.”

It took some time for her to calm down, but eventually she did, and the marriage-pooja and rituals resumed and the function ended on a positive note.

It has been several years since that incident happened, but the lines still ring in my ears “These eyes have seen the world”.

Today, when I think of that day, I wonder what would have happened had the grand old lady not been present. As a teenager, my friends and I were guilty of thinking that she was still fond of food and functions, that she should have stayed at home, that she should not have burned others because of her failing health, but now, I feel she was there for a reason – a purpose. She was there to teach everybody a lesson that the presence of ‘the elderly’, ‘the seasoned ones’, ‘the wise ones’ is a tremendously great blessing and one must always acknowledge their presence with great respect and honour.

In today’s world, most of us are troubled with various kinds of stress and anxiety. Several things bother us. We live our life in a fast lane. While there are so many solutions available and people seek various paths to overcome their grief, panic and stress, the best option that is still available to us is to spend some quality time with these ‘seasoned ones’. Their experience alone can teach us some of the greatest life lessons.