A Pedestrian Signal.

After a bit of shopping, I was walking back to the bus stop at East Fort, Thiruvananthapuram.

The red pedestrian signal lights kept me waiting at one end of the road. I could hear a few random mumbles from behind me.

As I just turned around, I saw an aged lady laying on the streets draped in a shabby dark saree with an alm bowl in front of her.

She spoke fitfully in tamil with pronounce influence of malayalam (probably that is the kanyakumari accent of tamil).

“Stand away from the pothole. That muddy water collected up there can cause you diseases. There are gems in it. A lot of mosquitoes are around too.”

I took my foot off the pit and crossed the road as the pedestrian signal turned green.

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Wasn’t her move too a pedestrian signal ?

Inspite of her ill conditions, she took possible care to prevent diseases.

Next, I was really impressed by her sense of awareness. Maybe she wasn’t absolutely right. But she does know a thing or two. This is an implication of how awareness has reached even grassroot levels. I consider this as a sort of sign of development.

Finally but most importantly, I wish that mother gets a better life soon.