Bhathu and his mother

Recently saw Bhathu near our old house, it brought back few memories. Bhathu is a middle aged man, who used to live nearby our old house in 5th cross road, Robertsonpet, KGF. We have moved out of that place about 10 yrs ago, but I think everyone else in and around the street remain. But this time I did not see his mother with him, is she still alive? I do not know.

Coming back to Bhathu, his dress remains the same, a cheddi ( sort of shorts) and a shirt with sleeves half way his forearms. He was roaming around without any intent. Bhathu has learning disability and was always with his elderly mother, they together used to do menial jobs like carrying shopping bags, opening small road side shops and also cleaning stuff like houses etc.

Bhathu was not the only son of this elderly women, she had several other children who were relatively well to do, but I think because of Bhathu's learning problems, this old lady had taken it on herself to look after him, she was overtly protective of him and used to give us kids a beating if anyone bothered Bhathu, Bhathu himself had the mental age of a probably a 8-10yr old kid. They together used to set up little roadside shops near the there schools where they lived and used to sell stuff like sweets, mangoes and other seasonal fruits to the school children, his mother used to buy vegetables from the market and go house to house selling them for a paltry profit.

Bhathu used to obey every command of his mother and I think they used to have a pet dog as well, having said all this, both Bhathu and his mother were proud human beings, in spite of their poverty they never begged anyone anything and maintained their self respect and dignity. I as a kid never gave any sort of importance to them, but when I saw him recently all my encounters with them started to come back and I really felt proud of Bhathu and his mother who in spite of little help from the community and the government had made lives for themselves.

I feel it is the fringe characters like Bhathu and his mother who makes the community work, through their sheer determination and hard work. India is made up of millions of Bhathus and his mother, who have been neglected and denied the opportunities and have been sent packing into oblivion by the ever greedy people who are after easy money and just think of making the most for themselves and their families. Long way to go before India becomes a mature selfless country.