Granny

Sigh! I can’t believe 2008 has already arrived.

2007 had been a good year, and I expected a nice, cozy winter.
But somehow, this Christmas wasn’t as happy as I had wanted it to be….

On the 22nd of December, my paternal grandfather passed away after struggling with cancer. We left for Chennai, our hometown, by the first flight the same day to attend his last rites.

A day after we arrived, my maternal grandmother, with whom I was staying, felt a little ill, but carried on with her work as usual. But the next day, she felt unusually breathless and my mother and I rushed her to the nearest hospital. There, she died of a sudden heart attack and respiratory failure...

My nani was a lady with a heart of gold. She loved all her grandchildren tremendously. She never hugged us to say how much she cared, but did it all through her actions, and never tried to impose her love on us.

Whenever she came to Delhi to stay with me, she brought loads of goodies, the tastes of which still linger in my mouth. Even in a completely new atmosphere, she adjusted so easily, as if she’d been living in Delhi all her life!

When she went back a month later, I felt hopelessly lonely, and yearned to find the same, grizzled ol’ lady opening the door as I came back home from school. She was a quiet person whose presence was never even felt, but her absence had created a huge vacuum in the house, and now, in my heart too….

I would forever remember the times I spent with her - the family trips to Haridwar, her delicacies, her one-toothed smile, her habit of asking a question again and again until she got only a ‘yes’ for an answer, the silent spectator at my karate classes, her habit of dabbing Ponds powder all over her face, and of course, the whiff of Tamil Nadu on her saree.

Nani, I thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me, and for the love you bestowed on us. I pray that you will rest peacefully, in heaven....