The embodiment of compassion who’ll remain unnamed

Have you ever seen a woman janitor? Have you ever seen anyone who was remarkable not by what they have or what they earn? Have you ever met someone who felt great not because of their awards or achievements but just by who they are? Even if we meet them, how many of us can identify their inner greatness?

Usually, when human ingenuity and greatness are discussed, the examples of astronauts, scientists, the first lady prime ministers, and the like come to our minds, don’t they? We usually associate greatness with a person’s career achievement or fame.

It took one woman and her life story to change this perception in my head.

Popular notions of great women

Memories of Mani from the pages of my Childhood

I was probably two and a half feet high. Those were the warm afternoons of a summer I spent at my grandmother’s place. This one stayed with me of all the stories my grandmother told me waving those palm leaf hand-fans.

A baby girl was abandoned at the Government Hospital in our village. At that time, I knew too little of the world’s complexities to explain why someone would abandon their baby girl like that.

Later that day, we learned that one woman stepped forward to take care of the newborn. The woman was Mani, the lady who earned her livelihood by cleaning washrooms- the Janitor of that hospital. She used to come to our house frequently to work- that’s how I knew her. 

The Abandoned Girl Child

Until then, her weekly visits to clean our house were routine, nothing I paid particular attention to. But from then on, how I perceived her shifted. Suddenly, she became the definition of the strength of character to me. Every time I saw her, I was filled with a sense of respect and awe.

Every time I went back to our Granny’s place for the vacations, I’d know about Mani and the daughter she adopted: “She enrolled her daughter in a school. Mani’s daughter has now finished college. The girl got married.”

My search for the Woman Janitor & the Abandoned Girl Child

After my grandmother passed away, my visits to her place became less frequent. Recently, I was paying a visit to my Granma’s place and wondered where Mani was. I wished to find her and write her story. So I started asking around. I came to know that she must be living beside the Village Goddesses’ temple.

That evening I started asking around the temple for Mani. Soon I found myself in front of a house. Two kids were playing outside. Their young mother came out, and I asked her if a woman named Mani lived there. She told me that her mother’s name was Mani and called her out. A tall elderly woman stepped out.

Sand of times

Stories are hidden in the sands of time:

My memory started recollecting her face rather vaguely. And I spoke up and asked if she was the Mani who adopted a little girl. Looking at me with a clueless face, she told me I must be mistaken, that she wasn’t the one I was looking for.

The Woman Janitor

A little disappointed, my eyes started wandering, looking for the woman I had come for. Perhaps she was living in the other street, I thought and started turning away.

Before I turned to the next road, the older woman came to me. We were standing a safe distance away from her home, and she shared in whispers: “I am Mani. My daughter is the lady whom you just spoke to. She doesn’t know that she was adopted”, she shared in hushed tones.

I spoke with the woman janitor as briefly as I could and hurriedly parted bidding goodbye. I walked home, carrying the spark of her calm smile in my heart. Mani never told her daughter that she was adopted; she brought her up as her own.

Genuine Compassion Vs. Name & Fame:

Bringing up a child is not a lite responsibility for anyone, let alone someone who earns their primary livelihood doing low-paying jobs. But her story reminds me that the confines of our paycheques do not bind compassion.

My mind sometimes wandered thinking: “Right now, if I am told that someone abandoned a baby girl, could I step forward and take responsibility for her? Can I convince my family members? Will we be able to make ends meet in the limited salary that I earn? Can I ever do what Mani has done?” I’m not sure!

In a world where people are enticed by the fame that kind acts bring, she stood as a counter note, her story of bravery & kindness unknown to many.

Little does this woman janitor know that her act of kindness disrupted all popular notions of greatness in my head. Have you ever met anyone great not by what they had or what they achieved, but just by who they are? Do you have a Mani in your life?

She walks the street just as you and me, continue to clean washrooms for money- just as she used to, living her life as if she didn’t do the most amazing act of human kindness. 

The Girl Child – Source: ArtistsAndIllustrators

*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the people in the story

Written by Pavni Sairam

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