The Key

When I held the key to room 28 of a Working Women’s Hostel, it had a story to tell. The key carried a legacy. For the past 25 years, or maybe more, so many women owned this key. It might have been with a woman who was single, working and living alone in Bombay to support her family in Nasik. The key might have opened the room for a young lady who walked out of a dysfunctional marriage against the wishes of her family and decided to live all by herself. It could have been with an ambitious medical student, a humble and hardworking beautician, a war widow, a struggling actress, a Page3 reporter of some vernacular magazine...

The key brought them to rest after a day of hard work. Some worked because they aspired for economic independence, some to support their families and some just for survival…

I may not be sure of what I want from life or where will I go next…but when the next occupant comes, I would be a part of the key’s legacy…

{PS: The writeup was originally submtted as a graded assignment. This is a modified version:-)}