Under the Sun Moon and Stars

She had been staying on the foot path for many months. Come rain or thundershowers she had no other shelter except for the heap of clothes near her. Whenever the need arose she would crawl under them. Months together without a wash the heap of clothes could be smelled from 50 feet. Seeing her pitiable condition the passers by kept on tossing a few coins to her.
Weather permitting she would beg on the roadside and collected enough money to survive but no one bothered to ask why was she sitting on the roadside. The curious onlookers could see a dirty smelly body with rashes all over.
Come winter and the heap of clothes rose higher. No one wanted her to die of cold so a few blankets were deposited near her. In the last few months 4-5 layers of clothes had formed one over the other. The bottom three layers were rotten but it never seem to bother her and the nearest house was at least 50 yards away.

This year the winter was particularly severe. In spite of the blankets, she was shivering. Now the money she collected was being put to a good use. She would ask one of the boys nearby to get her a small bottle of country liquor from a shop, the boy obliged. She had lost all tracks of time and ate whenever some one gave her food, drank whenever she had money. The onlookers were amused. But the nights were becoming miserable, no amount of drinking could keep the cold away and she let out loud cries of anguish throughout the night.

One day she approached the old woman. The stench was unbearable but she was determined to find out who she was. Questions were futile as the only answers she received were the choicest abuses from a befuddled mind. She tried to adjust her clothes and found to her dismay that below a shirt and a thin sweater she wore nothing at all. There were rashes all over her lower body. She contacted Pingalwara and the woman finally found a home. The stinking heap of clothes poses various questions: