Warms the heart

Sometimes, we come across stories which pull at our heartstrings and makes one wonder, what has happened to our priorities in life too.

One such story is that of this humble 65 years old woman from Baramati in Mahrashtra, Lata Kare. There was a Baramati Marathon scheduled  and the prize money was Rs.5000. The previous night, she was  carrying a fever but she had made up her mind to participate. In the senior citizens category, she ran the 3 kms long marathon, clad in her traditional 9-yard saree and barefoot. And she won! Its not like she had trained well in advance or had had any previous experience in running. She ran because she needed the money for her husband’s medical treatment – an MRI scan was required for a heart problem and she ran to get at least some money for the MRI, which costs around Rs.15,000 to 20,000.

Her husband, son and family work as laborers in farm, earning about Rs.80-100/day. Her only ‘practice’ was when she goes visiting her married daughters, staying some 3-4 kms away from her home.  And wearing footwear is a luxury she has never been able to afford.

Such stories makes one wonder where we are headed – on one hand people in cities or even small towns go and spend thousands on mindless shopping and here we had a senior citizen run for her husband’s medical treatment. Such inequality exists in all societies yet so stark?  Kudos to the spirit of this woman, for whom 65 is just a number – she can put all the city bred youngsters to shame with her stamina, grit and love for her husband. And to think that this generation needs to celebrate a Valentine Day to show their love...