Crossing religious boundaries to help abandoned old woman

• Fervent plea by abandoned 80-year-old woman to a Muslim social worker who will be taking care of her. She was earlier spotted on the street and given shelter by a former neighbour, a Christian

Bangalore, Oct 21, 2014 (Bangalore Mirror): Over the last few years, Mangalore has been in the news for all the wrong reasons: moral policing, communal flare-ups. Now, this heart-rending story has all the elements of multi-religious harmony.

 

An 80-year-old Hindu lady, apparently abandoned by her Mumbai-based son, is being looked after by a Christian family while a Muslim social worker has come forward to take future responsibility of the lady.

 

Sarojamma (name changed), a retired teacher from Mangalore, was found on the streets about five days ago by 70-year-old Gracy who recognised her as the owner of the household in the neighbourhood. Gracy’s daughter-in-law had also worked as a maid in Sarojamma’s home.

 

 

Gracy happened to mention to social worker and businessman Rasheed Vitla about the woman who landed in Mangalore after her son living in Mumbai allegedly put her on a bus.

 

Vitla told Bangalore Mirror, ’’Sarojamma told me she lost her husband, an engineer, about four years ago and her only son had moved to Mumbai. I spent nearly two hours with her and at the end of our conversation, she held me tight and said, "I have only one wish. I want you to help me, and perform my last rites when I die as per the Hindu religion and would not like you to reveal my identity to anyone,"

 

According to Sarojamma, her son sold off their house in Mangalore December last year and took her to Mumbai. But things took a turn for the worse after differences, according to Sarojamma, with her daughter-in-law, and soon the 80-year-old woman found herself sitting on a Mangalore bound bus with some cash and a mobile phone.

 

"To verify her story, I called her son and even texted him. Later, I managed to talk to a woman who I suspect was the daughter-in-law. I told her that an elderly woman had been admitted to hospital as she had fallen on the street, and that she is not saying anything except asking for her son. I told her that I located her number in the mobile phone the lady was carrying and called her,’’ Vitla said.

 

He said the woman at the other end disconnected after saying, "Okay, right, thank you.’’

 

"After sometime I got a call from the same number and she said she did not want to hear anything about the lady as she (Sarojamma) had left them and went away of her accord," he said.

 

Rasheed said they were working out a way to look after Sarojamma when she returns from her visit to a relative’s place in a couple of days.

 

"I lost my mother when I was one-and-a-half-year-old and today God has given me an opportunity to look after my mother," he said.