A Senior Citizen Who Is a Child

Madhuri, a 65-year-old woman, hailed from a small town in Gujarat. She had not even completed her schooling. Unaware of worldly illusions, she was innocent and lacked understanding — not by choice, but because she had been raised that way. Moreover, women in those days were not given much exposure.

She got married at the age of 21. Like most Indian women of her time, she was treated as a servant in her own in-laws’ house. Hers was a joint family, and she had to rise early, cook for everyone, serve the elders, and take care of her husband. Gradually, she forgot what she wished for in life. She was born innocent and was forced to live timidly.

Whenever she tried to understand something by asking questions, she was scolded into silence. People mocked her if she asked what they called “silly questions” or gave “meaningless logic.” Over the years, she had been treated like a doormat by her family.

Her husband, Praveen, however, understood her nature. He would gently correct her mistakes. He loved her deeply. He knew that her condition was not her fault — it was society’s.

Madhuri lost her husband ten years ago in a road accident. She was devastated. Her relatives thought it was the perfect time to snatch everything from her since she was alone. They forgot that her children were there.

Madhuri had two sons — Virat and Akash. They were teenagers then, so people didn’t see them as a threat. But Madhuri and her sons were blessed. They moved out of Gujarat and shifted to Mumbai. Both Virat and Akash excelled in academics and secured good jobs in reputed MNCs. They earned well and took great care of their mother.

While growing up, they understood her nature. They learned to balance their modern lives with their mother’s old-fashioned innocence — and they did it beautifully. They fulfilled her smallest wishes and never questioned her demands. Sometimes they felt frustrated, but they always knew how to make her happy. This family was unlike what we usually see today — what made them unique was the sons’ upbringing and the mother’s extraordinary purity.

Madhuri was credulous and inexperienced. She was so gullible that she could easily be tricked. Her ingenuous nature often worried her sons. She was so harmless that people barely noticed her existence. She was unacquainted with the world and unschooled — like a child. Although she had crossed sixty, she was still a small child at heart — mentally, morally, and even physically (her face was adorably innocent).

At times, her sons felt embarrassed by her questions, but they eventually learned to accept her as she was. One day she asked, “Doesn’t the car AC increase the electricity bill?” Another day, she wondered, “Who is that lady who talks on the phone when someone doesn’t answer?”

I know what you’re thinking — how can someone be so naïve? But that was Madhuri — unaffected by others, lost in her own little world, engrossed in her simple beliefs.

Her happiness and well-being became the sole purpose of her sons’ lives. They did everything they could to bring a smile to her face and gave her all that she had deserved in her younger days.

It is said that everything falls into place at the right time. Madhuri finally found the joy she had longed for all her life. Better late than never — her old age finally understood that her sons were there to care for her inner child.

Some souls never grow old — they just become purer with time.