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The Village Girl I Met Nallammai Ravi – July 1st, 2005
How often had I thought that living in a village was so much easier than living in a city? How often had I wondered how lovely it would be to escape the stressful city life and live in a village peacefully? Little did I ever realize that village life is just as busy?
Usually I spend my holidays travelling to many places. Although I had been to many countries, my trip to my own village in India is the most unforgettable one.When I was there, I realized that an ordinary village girl is far different from a city girl like me in practically every way. Geetha, the girl with whom I became immediate friends with in the village was a marvel. It was really impossible to think how two people so different can exist on the same Earth. She had never heard of lipstick or nail polish. She had absolutely no artificial aids to her beauty.
Whenever I spoke, I noticed a sense of awe in her eyes. Her cheeks would glow as I told her about all the different aspects of beauty. Her eyes would widen as she saw my make-up kit.
It was my turn to marvel as I saw the number of jobs she managed in a day. From morning till evening, you could hardly see her standing still or sitting and talking to someone. She brought pitchers of water from the village well. At one time, she was cooking for the family and at another, she was washing the clothes. She milked the cows and cleaned the utensils. She always had a never-ending list of jobs to do. The floor had to be scrubbed, her younger siblings had to be taken care of, the plants had to be watered and the dishes had to be washed. She was an assistant to her mother. It was almost impossible to see her idle. According to her, an occasional festival would come once in a while to relieve the monotony of her life. (Though personally, I do not think that her life is called a monotonous one).
The one thing I admired most about her was that she never grumbled, not even once did she say that she was exhausted. She did not complain about working hard.
After my stay in the village, I had to reconsider my thoughts about village life. Perhaps it was not too relaxed after all. I knew that I shall never be able to do as much work as Geetha,( but nothing is impossible; where there is a will, there is a way).Somehow it does not matter. I was content with the life I was leading. According to me city life gives us opportunities to build up our self-confidence.