Unconventionally Conventional

On the way back from KL, I saw an old Indian lady, dressed in a somewhat shabby dress, sitting alone in the LRT. Her appearance was one of great hardship, exemplified by the undulating creases lining her face. She started to doze off, her frail hands supporting her haggard, pristinely confused face, and her head gradually continued to fall downwards till her knees, as if she was caught in a restless stupor. Even the occasional intermissions during the journey did not manage to wake her up from her slumber; even if she was aroused, it was only momentary, so as to scan for dangers in her surroundings with her brazen yet sympathetic searching eyes.

Reality prodded her when we arrived at our destination, and she arose from her seat with great difficulty, took her bags and slowly walked out. It was only when she stood up that I realised how short she was, for the crowd around her was at least twice her height. She exited to the carpark with trepidation in her steps and proceeded to sit in a shady spot under the overhead railway. I admit I was interested to know her and hesitatingly followed her. I circled around the carpark, acutely nervous, and almost wanted to escape from her presence. But I just couldn’t. Meeting her, I gave her some spare change and bowed down, she too bowed down in return. I thought this was the end. I shall just move on. My task (if any) was done. But curiosity overwhelmed me. I returned to her.

“Where are you from?” I asked.

“Oh, I just live over there,” she replied, her hand pointing to a certain direction.

I was honestly shocked. I didn’t expect her to reply with such calmness. From our subsequent conversation it was obvious she had a decent command of the English language. These were some of the information I obtained from her.

She was a retiree, having previously taught English and Mathematics at a local college. She was just coming back from a temple and just wanted to rest in the shade, contented with the breezy winds lashing against her body. She had a son who was working in a bank and a daughter who’s currently studying in a public university. All in all, she was a very different person from what I expected her to be i.e. a victim who fell through the vast gaping holes of our country’s social safety net, suffering from the plights of poverty.

We could have talked more but I needed to catch the bus so we both bid each other farewell. But I returned home with a great lesson – never judge someone by his or her appearance.