Arpana had a fancy dress competition and she wanted to act like a teacher. She is so sure that she is going to become a teacher in the future.
I had to drape a saree on her and also do her hair. My fingers are dreadfully clumsy in doing these things. I decided to take 2 dupattas, make pleats with one for the base and another dupatta for the thing that hangs over the shoulder. For a moment, I was so proud of my plan ;) but then as a matter of fact, I'm not a pro in draping sarees even for myself. I do a very mediocre job. So you can imagine how hard it would have been for me to do this for my high-energy daughter, when at the same time, my 11 month son kept clinging to my legs.
I did a bad job, but anyways we started off. My kind husband saw how hard I tried and said, "Arpana, you'll ace through because amma taught you awesome diaogues!" what he really meant was, you don't stand a chance with the kind of costume you are wearing, maybe your speech will win you something. :) We took the bike to school and by the time we reached school, man she was messed up.
I fastened random safety- pins in different parts of the saree and we rushed to the classroom. I felt small and inferior, when I saw well-dressed kids sitting in the classroom with high-quality hired clothes and beautifully done makeup. There were doctors, deities, police, princesses, leaders even Big Boss Oviya! My unassuming Arpana teacher went to her place and as usual was in deep thought. We were waiting outside, and I was pretty upset that I was bad at this and decided to start seeing YouTube videos or sari-draping.
The program was getting delayed, so we decided to get Arpana some snacks. When we called her outside, she was happy to see food. She was munching on the chips and she said, "Amma, Deeksha said that my dress looks bad". I was heartbroken. Such a bad mother I was. I told Arpana, "No sweetie, you look perfect, she is not speaking the truth." As a matter of fact, she was.
I redid the sari, but actually it was worse than before. I was about to send her back to the classroom. Suddenly, a kind looking lady who works as a helper in the school, asked me if she could help dress my daughter up. She was actually observing me for sometime. I was so relieved, I said, "Sure ma, please do".
She quickly unfastened all the safety pins, her fingers danced on the fabric and she made beautiful pleats, precise tuck-ins and in a moment she transformed those ordinary dupattas to a beautiful two-piece saree. I was SOO thankful, while I kept saying like a 100 thank yous..she said.."Do you have a comb ma'm?", "Oh yes" and I gave her one. She twisted and curled and did a beautiful style on Arpana's hair. Then she went to some room, got some face powder and brushed her tired face with it. I was amazed. She transformed my daughter to a sophisticated-looking well dressed teacher.
This lady doesn't know me, nor my daughter, I didn't ask for help. She sensed a need and took action. She could have sat back and made a nasty comment or commented on my bad parenting, she could have said how lazy I was, how I didn't care or so many things. But she didn't judge me, she helped me.
I wanted to click a photo with her, but she fled away I don't even know her name. But I can't forget her face. And her benevolence. She made my daughter feel special and she taught me a lesson for a lifetime. I hope sometime I return that favor by showing some random kindness to another random stranger, just like her.
Sometimes when I think of charity, I think of big things; feeding the poor, paying for education, teaching the unprivileged, caring for orphans and so many more. However, you don't really ahve to wait for times like that. Doing things like what this precious woman did for me can make a big difference.
"Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law.." Matthew 7:12
End of day, by daughter did a super cool job at the competition. And I learned a valuable lesson.
