Kuldeep Kaur. She is not your run-of-the-mill Punjabi kudi. Though for the first 20, 25 years of her life she was.
Married at an early age, a shift to New York, three kids in quick succession and abandoned by her husband in New York for another woman, she had to find a way to live and to take care of her children. From a conservative stay-at-home Punjabi housewife she was overnight catapulted into a strange and scary world.
The Punjabi network came to her rescue. A couple of her friends who were running private cab services in NY taught her to drive and gave her short assignments till she became confident enough to qualify as a New York cabbie. As you know, driving in Manhattan is an art. They lent her their cars till she could afford one of her own. She soon became a regular for the official crowd and the visitors to New York.
I was one of them. I preferred to hire her vehicle because not only was she competent but also friendly. A happy smile every time we met. Almost like an old friend, we would discuss her children and their problems. She also knew where the best bargains were and once in a while, would even treat us to heavenly aloo parathas that were to die for.
Each visit to New York was made more special because of Kuldeep. I got to know about her daughter planning to study medicine, about her youngest having issues at school and her old mother’s health. Once in a while she would talk about how her brothers back in Jalandhar cheated her out of her share of the family property. Then again, there was a matter-of-fact acceptance about the raw deal life had dealt her. She had moved on. Her focus was on educating her children.
She talked about shifting to truck driving and driving those monster trucks coast to coast. They paid better and she needed to start putting aside sums for a house.
Soon I had to move from the States and lost touch with her. But her spirit and guts remained with me. Deserted by her husband with three kids in a strange country, she just got up and got going. I learnt through friends that she had built her house and her daughter had joined medical school.
Life does deal us bad hands very often. How many of us find it within us to get up and move? After I came back to India, I went through a bad patch myself. Cancer. Fortunately, I had got it early and the prognosis was good but nevertheless, it was a reality check. I went though my share of “Why me” and cursing fate. But somewhere the thought of Kuldeep and her indomitable spirit kept me going. If she could survive in a strange country, what was my problem with the best of facilities and the wherewithal to deal with the treatment. I got through. Kuldeep, thank you for showing me it is not too difficult to deal with the unexpected downs of life. All you need is a will to tackle problems head on.
