I am just a small town Hindi teacher in Mangalore content with teaching girls in St. Anne’s High school. That’s where I first saw Mariam Wadia and she changed my life forever and filled it with a lot of innocence and affection.
She was good in Hindi for she hailed from Lucknow but when it came to English she found it hard to converse at the convent. By nature shy and reticent, she kept to herself and missed out on the joys of growing up. But then she had a heart of gold!!!!
Mariam was sent on an errand to buy coconut water from the market by her father and after she purchased it, she saw an old decrepit man selling lottery ticket on the way back. He was blind and his plight pierced her tender heart for she knew that he could make twice as much just by spreading the shawl. There was a lot of honour in that face and she approached him for buying a ticket. She just had Rs.2/- in the hand after paying Rs.8/- for the coconut. She went back to the shop and got Rs.5/- in exchange and that gave her a chance to buy a ticket and help the man in her own little way.
Believe it or not, that lottery ticket won a prize of Rs.60,000/- and she didn’t know what to do. Telling her parents would invite censure for buying a lottery is the not the lot of a 14 year old girl. Without a moment’s hesitation, she donated the entire sum to the lottery man.
I heard this tale from her friend and from that time onwards, I saw that shiny glow of a healthy conscience that knew suffering and had a heart for the weak.
She was weak in conversational English and I took upon myself to get her trained. Before the year ran out, she spoke without an accent and that has earned her many friends in the class.
Mariam’s ambition in life was to get into medicine and that was a tall order for a poor girl with no access to extra tutorial preparatory classes. I saw to it that she got the old exam papers on which to base her preparations and she made it to Hegde College of Medicine, Mangalore by sheer dint of hard work and perseverance.
Since her admission to the med school, I have not been in regular touch and by now, she has started to look upon me as a surrogate father much to my delight. She would call me frequently and report on her progress and I really savour the affection; being an old, retired widower and these were moments I looked forward to.
She passed school in honours and fell in love with Syed Al Banna and now as I see enter my gate with a two year old girl, I beam with pride. This girl had everything against her; her father a small time grocer and yet she is now majoring in Cardiology and slated to go to US for post graduation.
Mariam made me a god father for her daughter and it is something I take very seriously. Every time, I look at her, I muse: I saw this girl thirty years late and what a remarkable woman. And who can ever forget that blind lottery peddler. Such a heart is surely made in heaven. (568 words)
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