story of mental...

this is not so much about the project or the programmes... this is about one woman in wandoor who everyone calls mental...

she is a bit squint eyed... she comes to panchayat almost everyday... she complains that the money that she was supposed to get is never given to her... an ngo is helping her, somebody is building a house for her... currently she is found cribbing and crying in panchayat or asking for food in some known houses or in the corner of a half-destroyed-in-earthquake house...

bits that i gathered... she was married long time back when she was a child... then her husband died... she went mad... but she was always slightly mental... she landed in wandoor... she got pregnant by no-one-knows-who... her children are looked after by her parents and some other relatives in some other place... no one really looks after her... there have been attempts to leave her far off... in boat, in bus... but she finds her way back to wandoor... she was beaten up few times... coz she is a nuisance you see...

people talk about her, talk to her, feed her, humour her, shout at her, some say she is not mental, many insist she is... wandoor is used to mental and her swings... they react accordingly...

she wept and sobbed and told her story all over again in panchayat yesterday... some tch tch... some sympathy smiles... some left feeling uncomfortable around her loud wailing... some offered her water... but no one actually handed a glass to her... she stood sobbing saying nothing... she walked away... she came an hour later feeling better... she reminded some of us about what we have to do to get her the money she is supposed to get and needs...eyes still empty full... looking in different directions... still hoping she may see and live a better day... she said something about gaps in her teeth...

and you will find this "mental" in each and every village, and many more, in each and every city...