- Eldest of the three daughters.
- Was apparently very smart and got a double-promotion from the third standard to the fifth standard decades ago. (According to her it was an achievement worth a Bharat ratna and unfailingly recited it at the drop of a hat.)
- Lived in Bombay for a while after her father passed away.
- Got married early and lost her hearing ability even before she was 20.
- Brought up five naughty kids of which my dad was arguably her favorite and the naughtiest too.
- Lost two of her daughters (equally charming souls) to health ailments.
- Was diagnosed with terminal illness and battled her disease until the very end with such grit and determination that shocked even the doctors.
Favorite and oft repeated dialogues:
"This is the only treasure I have. Nobody treasures it anymore" -Making kolams (colored patterns) are a big thing in our family and if I refused to learn them, she would dramatically gather all of her kolam books and say this with flourish.)"Don’t put mug inside bucket. Don’t touch plate with your left hand. Don’t leave your hair open. Don’t wear shoes inside house" - Her rules were extremely complex and difficult to master. You were not allowed to touch your plate with your left hand, but you could lick fingers and slurp the rasam. Talking when eating was a big no-no, but she could read her 'tughlak' (which is a popular Tamil political magazine). According to her, leaving the hair open made girls look seductive. Hello! I live in a place which has more buffaloes than men, and the possibility of somebody getting seduced by Ms. Frizzed Up Always, seems extremely remote.
"Noodles is bad for health." - She was an authority on classifying food items into edible and fatal. Fatal things including everything she did not like and did not know how to make.
"I know English, Marathi, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. Everybody should learn at least five languages" - Honestly, she knew only Tamil. I have my own doubts about her other claims because I have heard her speak butler English and Malayalam in front of others and wished I could melt right there.
“Nobody saves electricity” – This comes from a person who never switched off bathroom lights. When confronted she would say, “I am old. Don’t mistreat me”
“You wear it today. Tomorrow it will become a fashion” – When I lost my hair band and she wanted me to wear an extremely ugly looking scarf on my head as a substitute.
“You are useless. Without doubt you will end up grazing cows” –When I stoutly refused to go out with that scarf on my head. This dialogue was also used very frequently on everyone including her sons, daughters, son-in-laws, and grandchildren.
I could go on, but to keep it short, she was a remarkable woman. She was a combination of warmth, love, kindness, good, and bad. The gaping void she left can never possibly be filled. I miss her.
8 comments:
Really beautiful and touching post !
Varsha
thanks for sharing some little known, precious facts about that little-strong, stubborn-sensitive woman who loved life to the hilt. the flexibility she displayed in coping up with changing times, places, her own roles and relevance in others’ lives and tragedies is as profound as the inspiration that she was to all of us.
thanks also for reminding us all, on a day we should pray for her.
Wow. It's been a year already! Nice post. By the way, I didn't know you could "graze cows". Mighty interesting way to eat cows, that would be :D
nice post.. i never had the oppurtunity to be close to either my gradnma or grandpa.. but i have heard that its always nice to be with them.. for the care and affection they give us.. a really touching post.. well, even me has listened to similar dialogues like your grandma... only difference i hear it from my MOM!! ;)
the disconnect -
the preceding post says - (in films),
“All the good, innocent girls are homely, wear saris and look gorgeous with their hair open.”
“According to her, leaving the hair open made girls look seductive.”
the prophecy -
“You are useless. Without doubt you will end up grazing cows”
"Hello! I live in a place which has more buffaloes than men"
@Varada, Sashi, and Das:
Thank you :)
@Vamsee
Thanks..it was a literal translation of what she used to say in Tamil. So it sounds perfect in Tamil :)
@Surabala
LOL...That was good :)
Our prayers... Best wishes...!!!
well done Varsha, a beautiful and honest way to remember that simple but great soul.
I have heard her speak butler English and Malayalam in front of others and wished I could melt right there - loved this !!
But I have always been surprised by her knowledge about everything under the sun.
Also I wouldn't forget the Scrabble games which we played (Varsha the genius would take the first place easily, and Varun the 4th :) ). Patti and me used to battle for the second place, and I mostly end up being 3rd.
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