Could there have been someone who lived like her ? Everagain ? Probably not. A human of such resilience, radiating happiness, imbibing all beings for what they are with her divine smile.
Amongst the multiple personality that she literally was, she was a prolific writer. ‘Diary of Little Woman’ was published in The Hindu and she also recieved many alocades for her book ‘Hello Mr.Postman’ – a collection of not so fictious letters exchanged between two young girls, was almost her autobiography. Many of her stories have been published in ‘Thumbi – Childrens magazine’.
Her house in Adyar was literally an open house fostering all those who seek love, food and shelter – dogs, cats and humans. It was not just her house, her mere being was that of fostering and acceptance. She would literally know everyone on the streets of Adyar and Besant Nagar, from the elanir kadai anna, pokkadai akka, watchman thatha to traffic police anna. She would also their families financially for marriage, education, hospital needs etc., but all of this done silently.
The minute she walks into Besant Nagar beach, there would atleast be a minimum of 30 dogs that would come running to her. She would know all of them by their names and their health history. She would also carry necessary food and medications for all of them. Late into night she would clean the water bowls and fill with water from near by restaurants on the Besant Nagar beach.All the kids in Uruur-Alcot kuppam were fond of her. She almost spear headedly took on varied activities at the ‘Kottai’. Her ‘Na Neyo Nakru Gamma’ dance was more of an anthem with the waves echoing ‘Hoi-Hoi’. During the season, she would patiently walk all the kids to the ‘Aamai-kottai’, turtle hatchery and release the hatchlings into the sea. She also got in so many interested people to interact with kids. Kottai would have never been what it was without her presence.Story telling came very naturally to her. She had conducted many story telling workshops across India.
In 2018, she attended the inauguration of Nurpu and Thugal centre and that was her first introduction to Cuckoo. ‘Sarva Samaya Prarthanai’ prayer song that she song coincidentally was a magical blessing, as it connected the threads back to Melukote.Later she moved to Cuckoo – a colearning space at foot hills of Javadhu for few years. She was actively involved in the various activities of the land and would invariably make everyone burst out laughing with her mere presence. She took up responsibility of giving tokens to patients and all of them became very fond of her so much that patients came just to talk to her and have a heartful laugh.
All this was done with her multiple physical and mental health conditions she was batling. But she batled it well for many years and the last few years she was very open on social media about her conditions, as she felt it would help someone else. She would often go into her ‘cave’ and come back after few months. But this time, for a longer period.And reading the above post, Shilpa would say secretively in a hush bush….
‘Meeeh….Meeeh…bowww…bowwww…. something something…enakke konjam jaasthi ahhh thonrathu’, in her typical Tamil accent and would burst out with her contagious laugh.
Rest in Laughter Shilpa.