Grand Mother..how perfect..

As soon as my dad comes in, the living room would be empty.."bhooma enga irukke??"krishna inikku school poniya??"(bhooma where r u..krishna did u goto school)would be the first call..inikku enna paduththal (whats today's share of riots??) wud be the next few words..Right at that time ,paati would sneak in and give him a long list of stuff we did and which were not supposed to be done..acc..to her standards which she had set for all the grandkids...out of everyone.. we were "THE RIOTS"..God knows how many times I cursed at what she said...until very recently i realised that she is the best of disciplinarian....going back to those days when she took real care of my health as i always had some kind of stomach problem..I remember once when i was sick she had carried me all by herself all the way to Thiruvarur from the place where we lived called Vedaranyam..this was about 2 hr of bus journey..She was about 60 then..She wudnt have even thought about what I wud do in return if I wud do it at all.. now that I grew up I dont even know if I would be 1% as self less as she was then....the only thing she wud asked me was "eppo varuve?" whenever I call her..after so much of pushing and arguing she decided to ask me for a "pen torch" that she would use when she gets back in the nite from the temple this time when i visited India....Knowing her liking to stock things I got her 3 and I saw that gleaming smile in her face..little did I know that I am seeing this beautiful smile for the last time...my aunt was saying that the whole of Triplicane knew that my paati got her torch from her grandkid from USA.. Yea my dearest Paati breathed for the last on Sunday..

I was always on a tiff with her whatever be the issue..and this time when i visited also i did something similar..My association with her is for more than 20 yrs now, almost as long as Iam alive in this world..and every activity that i do revolved around her..Not in the mood to cook I tried to search for some dry food today that I packed from India and ..to my agony it was she who made everything for me when I visited India...I havent even completed them before which I cant realise that she is gone forever..She would never like us to sit and crib about anything that doesnt work..She always believed that "If it has to happen it will happen"If I sit and weep for low grades or a quarrel with my friend she would yell at me for idling around..It seemed so rude on me then but now.. I realise the importance of those lessons when I stay alone.Though she dint want me to leave her for the US she had unknowingly trained me to be on my own..She was full of lessons all the time,commitment,love,strength...."Grand Mother" is ofcourse the best definition of her..But for her efforts I would have never made it to my college starting at 7.30 am in the morning carrying lunch and finishing my hot and delicious breakfasts..We share so many different interests from my childhood and she almost grew up with me for the second time..She would get everything I like from flowers,bangles..food items and what not.. As i grew up knowing my interest in the decoration and art at temples everyday she would come back with a short story for me....At the same time she was the most pragmatic woman I have ever seen.For her orthodox ways she agreed to let me go for a haircut which is still prohibited in our family and is something that my Mom wouldnt agree still..There are several occasions which I can keep quoting ..But the most I cherished and remembered is something weird..Our occasional quarrels after which I go back to tell her a sorry (wantedly or otherwise) and to my surprise she would never have wanted one..I guess these had been the reasons for having gone so close...Life moves on but just with such a big gap which can ever be bridged ..I would forever cherish this first quarter of my life which I spent with her....