An Ode to My Grandmother

It has been exactly one month since my grandmother passed away. She was my maternal grandmother. She hailed from the royal city of Lucknow. My grandfather had passed away during my early childhood, about 28 years back. After that incident, she continued to stay in Lucknow until my younger sister was born. That is the reason I colloquially referred to her as ‘the grandmother from Lucknow’ while my dad’s mother became ‘the grandmother from Delhi’.

She was a fiercely independent lady, who single-handedly managed her home. The memories associated with her are just too many to be narrated in a single blog post. Among the more significant ones is that of a summer vacation spent with her at the Lucknow home, away from my parents. At that time, I was in third grade, and my family had just been transferred to Dehradun. Before that, my parents had left me at grandmother’s place for a few days. But at that time, my grandfather was alive. This was the first time that she had to look after me completely by herself. Needless to say, the task wasn’t simple as I was a naughty kid! She gave me a good taste of her hospitality skills. I remember the rickshaw rides with her and going to places like Kapurthala, Hazratganj, Nehru Park, and the Science Centre. The last bit is especially significant as she hadn’t formally studied science beyond secondary school (she had graduated from college with an Arts degree). Yet she took a keen interest in the experiments that were demonstrated there, and even tried to understand them. Later, when I developed the habit of conducting small-scale science-experiments on my own (e.g. making an electromagnet with a battery, copper wires, and a nail), she actually helped me with them.

That summer was also significant as it was the first time I watched a movie in a theatre. Prior to that, my parents had taken me to some movie show. But I had become so bored that I literally pulled them away during the interval! One day, my grandmother told stories of her young days, and of my mom’s childhood.  She reminisced how they frequented a movie theatre called Mayfair. That day I decided that I just had to go to one as well! I forced her to take me out, in spite of the June heat! And we went all the way to Hazratganj to watch a movie at that place. To her utter dismay, a really bad-sounding movie was being exhibited at Mayfair. Fortunately for her, something that ‘sounded better’ was playing in a neighboring theatre. I gladly consented to her suggestion, and I ended up watching a complete movie for the first time in my life. This was despite the fact that my early childhood was spent in the cinema capital of India, Mumbai. That movie was the modern-day classic ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander’. I really thank her for making my first movie watching experience a good one.

After my sister was born, my grandmother moved in with my parents in Dehradun, as she was the best person to take care of the new-born child. My sister was practically raised by her. We both were fond of listening to bedtime stories. Apart from the usual tales of fairies and monsters, her stories came with a twist. She used to tell stories about cricket. More specifically, cricket matches between teams of lions, foxes, cows, and jackals! Hats-off to her imagination! Who can spin yarns like that? A part of my storyteller’s imagination most certainly comes from her. And speaking of cricket, at times she even used to participate in certain games of gully cricket with me, and some other kids in the locality.

Another significant memory I have of her is that of my senior secondary school- in other words, my 9th and 10th class. The ICSE curriculum can be quite daunting to someone in the early teenage (though it seems elementary at this age!). And that is where she really helped me revise the concepts, even though she didn’t understand the concepts herself- especially those of Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science. She had a flair for learning and knowledge, which was really indispensable to me at that time. The fact that we used to share the same bedroom did help a lot. Never once did she complain about me studying till late hours. This continued to a lesser extent during my high school and preparation for engineering entrance examinations. Though at that time, the level of science was slightly too tough for her to comprehend.

She lived to an old age of 86. And apart from the last ten months of her life, she was the epitome of health in our family. Else it is not possible to explore Europe, including the Swiss mountains, at the age of 81! The last few months of her life had been hard on her. It was disturbing to see someone like her helpless and bedridden. It was indeed a relief for her when she passed away. But I prefer to not think of those times. On this day, she is not with us anymore, and the old house in Lucknow is in ruins. But the best image I have of my grandma is that of her standing next to the front gate of the white-coloured house in Lucknow, waiting for the milkman or the bread-seller. For me, she will always remain ‘the grandmother from Lucknow’.