We live in a materialistic world. And, sadly, the festive spirit of Diwali has been transformed into an extravagant & splurging shopping spree.
For some, it has been turned into the most stressful time of the year because of the hype and the expectations.
But we at IFORHER, believe the real spirit of Diwali is about finding a ray of hope in the darkest phase of our life. And, the story of the life of Leela ‘Aunty,’ is one such story.
After losing her husband to cancer, this brave soul lost the spirit of life until she had her life-altering moment to find her desire to live again.
While sharing her inspiring story with HoB, Leela shared:
“I’m an orphan. I was brought up by my elder brother and his wife since I was 2. I studied until the 1st standard, learnt to cook by the time I was 10 and was married at 20. My husband was kind and caring — he woke me up with a cup of tea every morning! Eventually, he permanently set up shop in Bombay and we moved here.
I didn’t know Hindi or English when I moved. I still remember those days — I was a mother of 4 already and was given Rs. 1000 a month to manage the house. Still, I would save some money for a rainy day– every month I would hide my savings in a Gehu ka dabba! I continued this practice for 24 years and it was the best one. There were months when we had no surplus and the children needed things for school — I would then spend the savings on them. In fact, even as my children became older and started getting married — I used these small savings to give them little gifts from my side.
My life has been dedicated to my family and children, something I don’t regret. But a few years ago, I lost my husband to cancer — that’s when I really felt weak. My children were all married and had spouses…suddenly, my life just changed.
For a while, I found it difficult to cope. I used to stay at home, wear a plain blue sari and not attend any social events. It was tough. I even had to get a knee surgery and funnily enough, when I saw the bill of the transplant something in me shifted! What was the point of spending all that money and sitting at home — I needed to make my paisa vasool!
At 74, I began my second innings.
I did everything to remain out of the house — I joined a yoga class, started going to all these places in Bombay that were on my bucket list and even took trips out of town! I dipped my feet in the water at Juhu beach for the first time with my grand daughter and joined an ‘Oldies’ group — I just went to Mahabaleshwar with all of them!
The way I see it, my life has been bound by so many responsibilities up until now that I’m actually loving being care free! It’s finally my time — and guess what, I’m just planning a trip to Goa with the Oldies — I’ll send you a selfie from there!”
We hope you would applaud Leela Aunty’s courage to find a ray of hope when her life brought her the darkest phase of life.
This Diwali, we applaud all the brave souls who are fighting to find a little streak of hope. Because, if Diwali isn’t about finding a ray of light in the darkest night then what it is!