The Bundle Of Life - A True Life Experience!

 The Bundle Of Life - A True Life Experience!

Have you heard of a Bundle of Wood in fact being the "Bundle Of Life"? If not read on, as this will tingle a chord in your soul!

At many times in our life we come across events in life that make you think. They often touch a chord in the deepest corners of your soul and leave you dazed and thinking about the way life works for each of us. It is with gratitude that I write this post almost immediately after the incident occured with me. It left a strong sense of peace and happiness in my heart. Why? Read on!

My work from home office is in the North East corner of my master bedroom, with a window adjacent to the table I work on. That allows me to keep a constant watch on the happenings along the road which seperates my building from a childrens park on the other side. 

Sometimes it is a distraction to my work but now I have learned to give a ear to only those things that may catch my attention or a sudden glance that draws my attention automatically to the happenings on the road. Sometimes they are the chatter of children passing along with their parents and it shocks me to hear them talk about so many things that leave a mark on your mind. Your heart reaches out to them to want to talk to them but obviously that is not possible with so many people criss-crossing the road.

Today as I sat gazing out into the yonder trying to work on some very critical Google Updates, but tired from constant work on the PC, I just glanced out across the window.

I saw this women who stopped by a broken and dried tree branch that was thrown out from the Garden and was lying along the wall. She immediately kept her small bag on the side of the road. Her eyes almost lit up with happiness! I realised then that for her; that dried branch was her wood for burning on her "Chulah" at home. The thought that was going through her mind almost touched a chord in my heart as I am myself clairvoyant, and I could sense what would happen.

I left my room and came out in my verandah along with my mobile. Something edged me to take a photograph of her while she continued with her work. She was trying trying to break the huge branch into smaller pieces comfortable enough for her to carry on her head. She immediately set to work breaking the larger brances into smaller ones and laying them in a bundle on the road.

She was using her foot to break the larger ones into comfortable-to-carry pieces. She then looked around to search for a string or something to tie the bundle which they normally lay on the ground first and then pile up the sticks on the thread or wire they find. She could not find anything and was looking around thoughtfully.

I felt for her and immediately picked up a small length of nylon rope that I have kept in a box in the corner of my verandah. I selected one that was long enough for her to tie the bundle of broken branches and called out to her. I showed her the rope and she came running towards from the other side with a beaming smile on her face. She picked up the rope which I threw to her from my first floor, and waved out to me a thank you.

She immediately set the long rope along the side of the road and set the already collected wood onto the rope so she could tie it together later. 

She gauged the size of the bundle to ensure that it was light enough to carry on her head. There was one thick branch which you can see in the image, which she tried her best to break into smaller pieces, but her frail structure would make no mark on the strong wood. She then set that wood aside to a corner; possible hoping she could carry it away the next day if she would be coming back this side again. She cleanly broke all the smaller and thinner branches and set them up on the pile she had already created on the rope.

Tying up the finished lot of broken wood she kept it aside alongside her small bag and carefully put the long thicker wood at the side of the road. She would possibly be lucky to have it still lying there for her tomorrow or later as there are so many such women who look out for dried branches for their cooking needs. 

You can see in the above image the long thick dried branch which lay at the side after she tied up all the smaller branches into her own bundle to be taken home. She glanced around and then passed a glance at the Tiger painted on the wall and gave a passing glance with a smile at me. Oh Oh! was she expecting the Tiger to take care of her branch? Who know? Maybe yes!

She finally picked up her bundle of dried wood branches which were in fact what I called a "Bundle of Life" - still a bit wet due to the rains in the morning, but I am sure they were enough for a day or two's cooking for her family. As she picked up the bundle and walked pass I took a passing image of her and it gave me a sense of peace and I was grateful that I could think of being ot at least some help to her without which she would not have been able to carry the bumdle as comfortably as she did as she passed in front of me. She gave me a smile and waved out as if saying thank you! Sadly I could not capture that moment as I had already taken the image below a few seconds before she waved out to me with a smile. But the feelings on her face were enough to express what she had achieved. 

I for one was still standing and gazing at her as she walked briskly towards her home, maybe happy that her wood for cooking for a day or more was all packed up. I cannot sum up the feelings as I stood for some time before returning to my table to work. 

I could not but hold back in immediately writing down this post. I then visualized a day in the life of these people who I have personally had the experience of living with. We can just cook on our Gas Stove or pipelined gas connections or microwave or even Inducion cooking but they have to go out first to collect wood for burning and only then are they even able to think of cooking something. Come rain and it is an even harder task for them as most of the wood is wet. I had earlier spoken to many such women who go through this routine every day and it brought tears to my eyes when one of them even narrated to me that her husband beat her up with the same stick she had collected to be used for cooking; only because she was late and food was not ready for him to eat. Most of them come back home from work drunk and what ensues is beyond your imagination. For them it is not a Bundle of wood but a "Bundle of Life".

All I could think of was being grateful to God for giving me the thought to try and at least help her with a piece of rope which helped her carry her "Bundle of Life" to her home.