the amazonian

the sheer strength of the woman is incredible. krishnamma is the boss in her house. she told her husband ages back that if he didn't like her authority, he could get out, since she's the working member. period. she's that kind of woman, you see.

with virtually no help from her husband, she raised her three children, put them through college and made sure they all got good jobs. she has a deep respect for my mother, so the two often chat after the morning's rush is over. they will discuss bringing up children, what sort of savings are best, tell each other if vegetables are fresher in a certain market, how to deal with some problem of krishnamma's...

i really like chatting with krishnamma. today, like on some occasions before, she left me totally gobsmacked!

krishnamma came in ridiculously early to work. i asked her what was up. she said there was likely to be trouble at home, so she decided to move to safer ground. her son in law is about to be beaten up by his family for marrying her daughter. she seems to have coolly told her daughters to get out of the house to safety, and has come my house herself. my mother - another unflappable woman - instructed the watchman to go with krishnamma when she had to go to the other house she works in. while krishnamma appreciated the additional security measure, i don't think she would've been particularly intimidated by the prospect of going alone!

i asked krishnamma if she would tell the police or something. she said no, her son in law was pretty level headed and would try to talk to the men who came. if they went ahead and beat him up, her family would return the compliment: calling cops would only temporarily postpone the next encounter. being equally tough on the other hand, would make the men think twice before picking on her family again. (*gulp* right..!)

all this with a look of complete control. but please: shes not a violent mafioso type. she's a very devout religious gentle person. she's merely also extremely tough. she will look after her own. that includes my sister and me too. if she thinks we look ill or have been working too hard, we'll hear about it mighty soon! if she thinks one of her neighbours is being foolish, so will they. but she'll also be the first to chip in and cook some extra food for the neighbours family when the woman of the house is ill, or if there's a wedding. she'll stay and help my family when we're in the midst of a crisis.

today's situation was merely another event to be calmly handled to this resourceful woman. more than could be said for my feeble "educated" self - in a couple of hours i may be able to hitch my jaw back up.