Waheeda's Retired Life

Preamble: For the  Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Waheeda was born as the eldest of four girls and a boy to Jafar and Jameela. They lived in the Mehdipatnam area of Hyderabad city where Jafar had a retail and whole sale business. Waheeda remembers the early years of her childhood as 'very happy'. They had many relatives and an active social life as most of the relatives lived in suburbs of Hyderabad. Waheeda was good in studies and had dreams of becoming a teacher. Both her parents were so happy when she passed the Teacher eligibility test (TET) and became a primary school teacher in a Government school.

The happiness was short-lived though since soon after, Jafar became ill. He was not able to concentrate on the business. By and by, the entire responsibility of the bread winner had fallen on the tender shoulders of Waheeda. In view of her interest to study more , she acquired qualifications of B.Ed. and other additional certifications that helped her get better salary. After the death of her father,  Waheeda managed all the affairs of the house, educating all her siblings and arranging for their marriages. 

This was a period when time flew. Steeped in her responsibilities, Waheeda had no time to think of herself, of her own marriage or a separate family for herself. Her family was 'the family' left to her by her father. With passage of time, the sisters and brother had their own lives to live. They could not visit her as often as in the initial days. Waheeda also did not notice this so much as she had her career as teacher that kept her busy in the day time. It was only in the evening that she sometimes felt lonely.

 Then it happened; Waheeda's retirement. After the garlands and sweet words on the last day of working, she had to return to an empty home and empty days to follow. Waheeda's siblings dropped in some time with children and grand children but these had been mostly restricted to the festive days like Eid- al- Fitr. 

The worst experience was during the lock down period since Waheeda was living alone. It was a challenge to buy basic essentials and run the household while maintaining social distancing. This was the time though when Waheeda came to know of a seniors online group called "Seniors Today" that met on zoom and engaged in various activities like singing and reciting poetry. Waheeda , being a teacher was a poetry enthusiast. She used to visit the various mushairas in the city. Now with social distancing and age catching up, the online Zoom meetings were godsent. 

Waheeda managed to tide over the lock down period and was now hooked to the "Seniors Today" group. They had increased their activities to sessions like Guftagu (a chat session), health & meditation, acting, gardening, numerology, anthakshari and many more. Waheeda found that she could not only keep herself engaged whole through the week but interact on Zoom with familiar faces who had become dear friends. They would enquire after her health and know if she felt lonely or down in spirit on a particular day. Waheeda's siblings also noticed the change and were happy that "Apa now is so full of life, even after retirement." 

The latest addition to the 'Seniors Today' sessions is a weekly program on "Pet care". Now Waheeda is seriously considering adding a pet to her household. Nothing like having a "living being" around  as you go through the day...

 NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z