The Jekyll and Hyde woman

“You idiot! Nitwit! How many times must I tell you not to pass urine in the living room, you scoundrel! See, your pants are wet!” yelled the woman at the grown up boy. She was yelling in her mother tongue, of course, which was Tamil. I have roughly translated it. (By the way, a quick look in Google says that Tamil is the oldest living language in the world)

She pulled the boy, who limped, towards the wash room. The boy got more telling off from the woman in the wash room, while he was being cleaned up. The boy did not make a sound. He just let himself be handled in whatever way the woman wanted. The boy could not speak, for God did not give him that benefit. 

“If you did this again I am going to whack you until you remembered!” the woman shouted. 

 The 'boy' was a twenty eight years old youngster with ‘Down syndrome’. Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder where children born with it tend to have physical or mental disabilities or both. He has both. He limps heavily and has the mentality of a three-year old. And also he cannot speak.That's three. Disabilities, I mean. Poor child!

Having cleaned up the boy, the woman toweled him up and took him to the room nearby to put clothes on him – a short pants and t-shirt. 

Suddenly she became all coyish and loving. She had forgotten all her anger and disappointment. She said “Come on dear, put on your shirt, put on your clothes so you can have your food”, in a voice that was now was all tender and soothing, “now dear, now, this hand goes here, right, right, now, that’s it, good boy! Clever boy!"

Now we all should know who the woman was. She was his mother.  

That was a true incident. It happens almost everyday. I should know. Because that child, that boy, that youngster, is my son. (This is a tribute to all those mothers with disabled children).