A Peep Into Two Lives..

I know a girl selling flowers for a living. Hers is a really tragic story.She lost her mother at a very young age and her father remarried. As generally noticed, her step-mother did not treat her well and so she came to stay with her maternal grandparents. Now these grandparents are not like any other grandparents in general. The poor girl was made to work very hard and was scolded if a particular quantity of flowers was not sold that day.Some good people used to offer her clothes and food and even sponsored her education in a municipal school. I remember her telling me once that her grandparents did not want her to study, she used to go on the morning round to sell flowers and had to come back with the empty basket else get spanked.The poor girl used to always be late to school because of this. She told me once in the last minute tension to get to school, she even wore the salwar ulta! She cleared her 10th and 12th with decent marks and joined a small degree college and is now in the final year of college thanks to help from good people who help out with college fees and books etc.

I can imagine how difficult it is for her to please her grandparents and study as well. They are very poor people and I know she does not have good facilities to study, but inspite of all this, she has managed to do so well. There were times when she would tell that her grandparents told her to get back to her step-mother since she was not making good sales of flowers.

Let me now write about the exact opposite of what I have said till now. My maid has two daughters, the elder being married and the younger one in 10th. Now, this younger daughter is a very stubborn and adamant girl from what I heard about her from her mother. She keeps demanding things from her parents knowing very well that they cannot afford it. Both the maid and her husband work, but they still live in a small room as they cannot afford to pay more rent.Once I was told that the girl threatened her mother to give her money for some expense, but as the mother did not have money on hand she could not do so. The girl immediately locked the main door and told her mother that she can go out only on giving the money! Not just this, the girl has told her mother that since she has given birth to her, she must fulfill all the demands. What goonda gardi this is. On top of this, she is a very poor student and skips tutions so that she can see TV the whole day. She is very fashionable and insists on matching accessories and shoes also for every dress. She does not seem to bother that her parents are working so hard to educate her and keep her happy. What a contrast from the girl who sells flowers.

My point is when our parents strain so much to give us luxuries in life, we must certainly do well in life and make a good career. When it is possible for a poor girl selling flowers to study under streetlights and almost be a graduate, then it is surely possible for people who have better facilities at home. The onus is on us to realise how hard our parents work to make our lives easy and stop making unreasonable demands.