She was rightly named Rani. She was born in a small corner of a big slum in Chennai. True leaders are born in mangers, right? Today she retired after 38 years of service. She started working in her teen years to support her family of 10. I remember her telling stories of rainy days, of leaking hut full of hungry children, of her sisters and brothers waiting to be fed when she came back from work with the day’s salary. She took it into her hands to improve every bit of their lives – she did succeed.
She laid herself down for everyone to come up – a spine made of steel. This spine made it impossible for her to bend to other people’s will. She was a woman of her own. I have never seen her relax even a bit – her colleagues complained of her lack of smile. But she doesn’t believe in smiling without really smiling, so she doesn’t care to smile unnecessarily. She’s got a crazy drive and updates herself without fail – no one can keep up. She fought and fought and fought – people called her an angry woman. But the ones close to her know that it’s just righteous indignation – very much a characteristic of our people.
She is self-made in all its sense, everything around her she created from nothing – she created me too. Destroy everything, she will create it all over again – she already did it once. Such power, such self-respect – a lion in her stride. I have seen people being nourished in her presence. I have also seen people thinking twice before uttering anything meaningless before her.
Can our woman be anything else? F*$#& scary, they are. So tough, yet so kind. She has never hurt a fly in her life. She has given so much of herself to everyone around her- no one went back home without being benefitted by her. Amma I hope I can be 10 percent of what you are, that is enough for my lifetime. BTW this is not your retirement. Queens never retire, do they?
(The song came at the right time. Exactly descriptive of her. She never cared when people said that she could not do it. She made everything possible. And even though she has nothing she still has everything)
Editor’s Note:
Rani Ma is an ardent fan of our Her Stories page and we are super proud to be featuring her in this My Mother column. Anyone interested in sharing their super Mom experiences, may please write to us with pictures and videos to strong@herstories.xyz.
Author:
Priyadarshini is a feminist, activist, movie maker and Founder of The Blue Club. The media Fellowships offered by The Blue Club are much sought after by young people. She is a true change maker!
