Aunt Damayanti

“Stay there, stay there,
Don’t you dare come this way.
Don’t accidentally touch
My pitcher filled with water!”

This was how Aunt Damayanti
Used to shout from her veranda,
Scolding the farmers working in the fields,
Warning them from a distance.

Everyone knew her nature;
She was always like this.
She could never sit quietly,
Making a commotion every day.

The ghost of untouchability
Always possessed her mind.
Even a group of children
Would often make fun of her.

She was so obsessed with cleanliness
That not even a fly could sit on her nose.
Washing her hands and feet repeatedly,
Her skin had become worn and sore.

She considered herself pure and sacred,
Like a deity, separate from all.
Everyone else seemed utterly inferior,
No better than dogs, cats, or animals.

She lived all alone in her house.
One day, she fell seriously ill.
The gates of heaven seemed near,
And her courage began to fade.

“We must not let our mistress die;
We must take her to the city soon.
There, a doctor must treat her well
And help her recover from this illness.”

The very Aunt who believed in untouchability
Was laid down on a handcart by everyone.
To take her by bus,
They carried her from the village to the road.

Into unconscious Aunt’s mouth,
Those people kept pouring water.
They did everything they could,
Trying their best to save her life.

Aunt returned from the city,
Recovered through medicine and care.
When she heard how they had given her water,
She smiled and said:

“Whatever those people did
Was absolutely right.
Those who save another person’s life
Perform a truly noble deed.

I alone was wrong to discriminate against them.
I kept treating them differently.
I failed to recognise another human being as human;
I committed a grave mistake.

Though illness struck me,
It taught me a great lesson in life.
We must consider everyone equal
And never regard anyone as inferior.”

— Vidya