“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be landing at Auckland Airport in a few more minutes,” the stewardess announced in her most attractive voice. “Please wear your seat belts and prepare to get off,” he added further instructions.

Another flight attendant caught up with the elderly woman sitting in a corner seat and helped her put on her seat belt. Then, after a smile, he left. The old woman was visibly excited. In another five or ten minutes he would meet his daughter. Although he has visited some foreign countries before, that was his first visit to Auckland. But let’s not mistake her for a very rich lady.

The ‘silk aunt’, as she was popularly called, came from a very poor family from Kanchipuram, a very famous temple city in Tamilnadu, which is also internationally famous for the production and export of silk saris. Pattu is the Tamil equivalent of silk and her original name Pattu mami was translated as silk aunt during her various visits abroad.

At the age of thirteen, she was married to a ‘kittu’ (short for Krishnan’s name) who was twelve years her senior. He worked as a waiter in the temple dining room for a meager salary. What he earned he spent on drinking illicit liquor. As time passed, she had to quit her job and spend full time drinking and having sex. After giving birth to four girls, he died at the age of thirty. The burden of raising them fell solely on her head. She took the job left by her husband and raised the children. Fortunately, the government introduced several free schemes (thanks to the democratic electoral system) like free education, free food, and various other gifts that sustained his life. She was an ardent believer and the trust of the temple helped her daughters complete their studies. A temple visitor who stayed in the temple premises was very impressed by the first daughter Leela (Leela means acts of play, mainly by gods like Sri Krishna Leela, Siva Leela or Shakthi Leela), married her and took her to Singapore. Although she worked in the dining room, her financial situation improved a lot. It can only be said that after the death of her husband, she saw the better side of life. That is the fate of several poor women in South India.

Her second daughter was able to graduate in commerce and chose to become a qualified chartered accountant. A doctor from a reputable company was impressed with her, got married and settled in London. The third daughter was a computer engineer, married a technical engineer, and settled in the States. Therefore, the girls who were considered a burden were indeed a blessing to her. He had visited all the countries and had lived in those countries for six months each.

The fourth daughter was the most beloved. The first three daughters arranged their marriage and the groom was a handsome young man employed as an engineer at an international IT company based in London and workplace in New Zealand. They settled in Auckland and the aunt will meet them in a few minutes.

The flight made a soft landing and his thoughts about the past came to an end. With the help of the stewardess he got out. After the immigration formalities, she left and her daughter Sarala ran up to her. Waving her hands, “mom” hugged her and gave her a warm kiss. He was driving the car and his mom was watching with pride.

Aunt Silk started liking Auckland at first sight. There were marked differences between an Indian metropolis and Auckland. The differences were clearly visible from the airport itself. There was no unwanted crowd. Not the taxi drivers who bother the passengers who arrive to hire them. Clean roads with very disciplined traffic were the next specialty. People voluntarily obeyed the traffic rules. It was obvious that people not only respected the traffic rules, but also took pride in obeying them.

Their residential neighborhoods were located on the outskirts, somewhat remote from the mainland. The roaring sea was five kilometers away. There were about fifty houses located next to each other. The company had built the village exclusively for staff and employees from various countries live there.

Soon, Ramu (short for Rama), his son-in-law returned from office and joined them. After formal questions, they sat down to dinner.

The television showed international news. Upon seeing a particular news item, they were shocked.

“The twenty-year-old Indian man named Manish who entered Pakistani land was imprisoned. He is likely to be hanged.”

The news was broadcast repeatedly with a photograph of the young man who was captured. It appeared that he was subjected to various hardships and was tortured to tell the truth. The Indian high commission reported that he was a shepherd and due to an error in judgment he entered Pak territory. The government ignored his request for clemency.

The Ramus were very upset when they saw the news. “Why is the government of Pakistan doing this?” asked the silk aunt desperately.

“Sh … sh … sh” Ramu silenced her.

“You should not make any comment. People from various countries live here,” he warned. “Above all, the neighbor is from Pakistan. You have to be very careful with them,” he added.

The silk aunt was silent. But the innocent face of the young Indian Manish grabbed by Pakistani forces haunted her throughout the night. But being a poor old woman, what could she do? She could only pray to God for her deliverance and she prayed with all her heart for her deliverance.

The next day, when he got up, it was five in the morning. He walked across the lawn and the door to the neighboring house suddenly opened.

I was simply trapped by the beauty of the lady who opened the door. He had never seen such a beautiful lady in his life. Soon Sarala joined her and the neighbor asked her: “Your mom?” Sarala said “yes” and she responded with a “Namasthe”.

After returning to the house, the silk aunt told Sarala, “It looks like she is pregnant,” so Sarala nodded.

“That stage is also very advanced” so Sarala also said “Yes, the delivery expires in twenty days”

“Where is your husband …?”

“He has gone to London for office work. He will be back in a fortnight.”

That night, Ramu was very upset with his mother-in-law. “I told them that they are from Pakistan and that we should not have any dealings with them. But you did not heed my words.”

“Don’t worry dear, it was just a cordial consultation,” Sarala reassured her husband.

“Okay, I have to go to my headquarters in London for ten days. Please take care of yourself.”

After three days he left for London. His company had made all the arrangements, including business class airfare, a five-star hotel stay, etc.

So mother and daughter were left alone.

As if fate had decided, that same night it started to rain heavily. There was an incessant fall and panic seized the entire island. The water level started and people moved upstairs leaving the ground floor. People who lived in low-lying areas moved to the tops of the hills carrying whatever they could lift. There was a massive power outage and all communication systems failed.

The houses in that complex were surrounded by knee-deep water. Both mother and daughter were confined to a room that closed off the entire entrance, in abrupt darkness because there was no electricity available.

There was a knock in the main entrance. They looked at each other. “Don’t open the door,” said the mother. “Don’t worry mommy, there’s nothing to be afraid of here,” Sarala said, she opened the door and was surprised to see that the maid from the neighboring house was standing, trembling.

“Madame, my madam is in pain. Please come see.”

She was undecided. Her mother immediately told her, “Sarala, I’ll go.”

With the help of the maid, he entered the water up to his knees and entered the next house.

My God, the labor pains started, she realized.

One or two other neighbors also joined.

The silk aunt asked them to bring emergency lamps and other battery lamps from their residences. She requested that only female members be present. One of them helped to make hot water and with their help to keep her legs open, she helped in a perfect delivery. A boy was born!

“Live!” everyone screamed with joy. The area immediately gave a festive air.

Only the next morning did medical help arrive and also press reporters.

In Auckland there were only a handful of newspapers. And there is also always a shortage of news.

Therefore, as soon as normality returned, the newspapers flashed: “Old Indian woman saves the lives of a Pakistani woman and her child.”

“The Indian rustic lady delivers a Pakistani woman in total darkness” and so on and gave a detailed account of the event.

The aspect that attracted great attention among the general public was the names of two countries that were known as perpetual rivals.

“An old Indian woman, helping a young Pakistani girl in distress, truly miraculous,” they felt.

Soon, the news went viral in the media with photographs of the lady from Pakistan, silk aunt with the newborn child.

The joy of the father of the newborn Mr. Khan knew no bounds.

He wanted to give the aunt some fees that she politely declined. She took only two dollars as her conventional offer as she did in Kanchipuram from poor families.

He undoubtedly received many messages from India, including the Prime Minister.

But the most surprising thing was the visit that the Pakistani consul paid him.

He thanked her profusely for her kind gesture in helping the lonely lady. On behalf of the country he represented, he wanted to appropriately reward his good services.

She politely declined the offer.

But the consul insisted that he accept some gift in exchange for his most noble work.

Then Silk Auntie plucked up her courage and asked, “Could you release Manish, the hard-working young man behind bars? As a mother of four, I can understand his mother’s sentiment.”

The consul was surprised.

“I’m sorry ma’am, that is beyond my powers”, saying so he said goodbye to everyone and his convoy left.

It seemed that everything had ended with that rejection.

But after fifteen days the miracle happened.

The Government of Pakistan, by virtue of its special powers, agreed to release the young man arrested for the crime of breaking and entering.

People could not believe the news.

As a step?

Credit must go to the media. Normally, people accuse the media only for doing the wrong things. But this time they did something extremely positive. They highlighted the request of the silk aunt. Not only the Government of India, the Consulate of Pakistan also raised the matter with the Government of Pakistan.

The Government of Pakistan examined the case. They also referred the matter to their clergy. The clergy passed sentence as follows:

“The old Indian woman had saved the lives of mother and son. She acted in an extremely benevolent way. Since she has saved two lives, there is nothing wrong with giving one in return. Therefore, the young man can be forgiven.”

Mr. Khan, the neighbor met the aunt. “Ma’am, it’s all due only to your noble mind,” he told her.

He was a fervent admirer of J. Krishnamurti, the Indian philosopher. His famous saying was “THE OBSERVER IS THE OBSERVED”.

“Auntie, you had a kind heart full of Love and compassion. So you helped my wife through a great trial.”

Yes, it was very sincere. Governments can fight, but the people must not be hostile. It is the duty of people to develop love and compassion. That is the great teaching of Christ, “look at your neighbor as yourself.”

If we allow LOVE to play, it can accomplish several things that no force can. Let’s wait for the day when 1.1 billion people in India see 300 million people in Pakistan as their brothers and vice versa.

The next Manish fortnight, the alleged intruder was reunited with his mother in India.