The Lady on a stick

Friend of the frocked Lady on a stick; do not know her name, nor she me; that's okay by us; irregularly, we raise palms to each other at the Xavier's School ground, exchange good mornings, walk our paths; for a time; she watches gemsize kids play football; cheers them; sometimes whistles her favourites; she backs all teams, thrilling their noise. In recent days, adults have taken over; podgy elders, playing cricket or as she, smiling, says 'shouting cricket'; she can least bear the hooting members of the Laughter Club; 'what are they doing?' she asks me every time and gets no answers. She has suspended her walks at the ground.  Well, me is not in favour of adults tearing up mornings. Children can break all rules, Shreya and Chiyu are lawless. That's the way the Lady and me like the world to be. The Lady is sweet; fluent in Hindi and English; now stumbles on tarred up and down roads, past noisy cars. A week ago, she was talking peace to two quarreling house-sparrows near Karuna Hospital; 'was inquiring of their blood pressure and whether they needed a check up,' the Lady told me; perhaps, the only Lady comfortable with me; 'you know they have a tongue, hands to scribble their thoughts, though they prefer not to read and write,' the Lady went on handing out Parle biscuits to strays, dogs; when in cash, she buys packets of Amul Taza, slits the plastic packets, pours the contents in stainless steel saucers, for the strays to relish good licks; me sometimes goes along with the Lady. She reminds me a bit of Lyla Bavadam in Kasturi Building dreaming to build a home for strays, dogs, cats.... If we meet on Sunday mornings, we sit on benches at a tea shop near the IC Church, sipping tea, smoking, talking. If we miss a Sunday, Bhagwan, the tea shop owner, makes inquiries. The Lady lives alone in a terrace flat, 3-room plus hall and kitchen large, in the Immaculate Church (IC) Colony, perhaps,the civilised spot in Borivili (W). It is a fact as the Lady said so. She has let out her three rooms to birds and pets, free; of course, she shares the hall ,with a window to the skies, with them; the balcony is green and bright flowered; a bed and some children books, read many times over. She treats them when sick or leads them to a lady vet, as imbalanced as the Lady. When she has nothing to do and that is rare, she paints her friends --- house sparrows, mynas, crows, Large Indian parakeets, drongos, magpie robins. Being a terrace flat, her friends have easy access;  with tasty food thrown in, they deem themselves lucky. Food cooked by the Lady. Me has not gone to her home; she has not yet invited me; a visitor to her place is stuck by a condition: when the visitor returns home, he or she has to keep an open house for birds and plants. That's an impossible condition, she admits to me. If the condition is not stuck to she fears an end to her friends and her home. They will go. 'It is a blessing I carry, like my stick. I believe it. My father blessed me; gave me his walking stick. And, most importantly, I do not want to be alone,' she adds. Me will never step into her home. None has. Me is happy with the Lady on the roads.