My Neighbor

Mention childhood, and all of us become nostalgic. Everyone gets reminded of their school days, their friends and the games they used to play. But my childhood was different. It had one important person I can never forget in my life- Lakshmi aunty.

When I was a child, I had no one to play with. Both my parents were working, and came home late. I had to spend my time after school in a creche till I was eight years old, and then I spent them in Lakshmi aunty’s house. Lakshmi aunty was a widow who lived opposite to my house. The people in my neighborhood considered her a mentally unstable woman, though I personally didn’t think so, and neither did my parents. She never spoke to anyone, even to me. Nobody knew how she earned her living.

I heard from my mom after much pestering that she lost her husband the day after their marriage in an accident, and she never recovered from that shock. Also, both her parents and her in-laws had shunned her saying she was a devil and took ill-luck with her wherever she went. I felt sad for her when I heard this. During the evenings of the eight years I spent with her, she spoke to me only twice. Once, when my mom had introduced me to her which was the first time I ever saw her. She held my hand and said softly," Hmmm Karthik huh?" and smiled gently. The second time was when I was leaving to Thanjavur for my higher studies, I went to her house and sought her blessings. She held me in her arms and spoke softly, “You should achieve great things, Karthik. All the best for your future.” I noticed tears in her eyes as she spoke. I gave her a hug and left.

The next time I heard about her was when I was in the second year of my engineering. Mom called me and told that Lakshmi aunty had had a stroke and was seriously ill. I rushed home the very next day and met her in the ICU. She was struggling for breath and looked in very bad shape. I went near her and held her arms. She recognized me and smiled. I had to control myself from crying as tears welled up in my eyes. She opened her mouth to tell me something but I couldn’t hear her. I went close to her and strained to hear.

“I’m going to die at last.” she said and gave me a weak smile. “You will be fine aunty.” I told her. “No Karthik I won’t survive. I’m going to tell you something. I had planned to name my child ‘Karthik’ in case it was a boy, but fate had other plans. I actually loved you a lot, though I never spoke with you. I was afraid that I might bring you a bad name if I acted like a mother to you, as I was always considered a lunatic. That’s why I never even tried talking to you.” she was crying miserably. So was I.

Suddenly, she started shivering and trembling as if she was possessed. Then it all ceased. A couple of doctors came rushing towards her and tried to revive her but she never responded. She had died, still holding my hand.