I was thinking about it last night and I wanted to write a little bit more about my grandmother. Maybe cause thinking of old people makes you want to document your own life better so that if your grandchildren wanted to remember things about you, or read about it, they can at some future date (assuming that google doesn't go bust or get bought out by some secret CIA office which blocks blogger).
Anyway, I was thinking about why I was closer to Mummy than Ammachy. Ammachy stayed right next door so we obviously saw a lot more of her. But I always loved going to Trivandrum more and even my parents went to the U.S. when I was like 6, Mummy had to come and stay with us for some time. Perhaps it was due to the fact that growing up, I was closer to my mom, who I always used to follow around everywhere. Maybe also cause I was always more comfortable speaking english.
I have really great memories of trivandrum, learning to ride my cycle, bringing back sand from the beach and making sandcastles on the rooftop of Mummy's place. I remember the three different terraces in the house was always something I thought of as cool. Having a bath in the huge kuttakam or metal pot pretending it was a swimming pool and plucking berries and lavlolika. I used to think it incredibly cool that my grandfather used to wash the dishes (and obsessively at that). One of the high points of the day for me was also sailing paper boats down the really long open drain from the kitchen while the lunchtime plates were being washed.
I guess like everyone, I always thought my grandparents were old. Mummy was anyway really morbid from as far as I can remember and used to say that she's old enough, seen everything and done everything she wanted to, and waiting to die. I guess they must have just been 62 and 65 or something when I was born. Now my dad is 59 but he doesn't seem old at all. I'm just getting used to the fact that he's a grandfather and that my children will, as Karan(my sister's son) probably already does, see him as being old.
Anyway, I was thinking about why I was closer to Mummy than Ammachy. Ammachy stayed right next door so we obviously saw a lot more of her. But I always loved going to Trivandrum more and even my parents went to the U.S. when I was like 6, Mummy had to come and stay with us for some time. Perhaps it was due to the fact that growing up, I was closer to my mom, who I always used to follow around everywhere. Maybe also cause I was always more comfortable speaking english.
I have really great memories of trivandrum, learning to ride my cycle, bringing back sand from the beach and making sandcastles on the rooftop of Mummy's place. I remember the three different terraces in the house was always something I thought of as cool. Having a bath in the huge kuttakam or metal pot pretending it was a swimming pool and plucking berries and lavlolika. I used to think it incredibly cool that my grandfather used to wash the dishes (and obsessively at that). One of the high points of the day for me was also sailing paper boats down the really long open drain from the kitchen while the lunchtime plates were being washed.
I guess like everyone, I always thought my grandparents were old. Mummy was anyway really morbid from as far as I can remember and used to say that she's old enough, seen everything and done everything she wanted to, and waiting to die. I guess they must have just been 62 and 65 or something when I was born. Now my dad is 59 but he doesn't seem old at all. I'm just getting used to the fact that he's a grandfather and that my children will, as Karan(my sister's son) probably already does, see him as being old.
1 comment:
ya. i remember the paper boat rides in the looong drain - boy almost like it was yesterday.
sandcastles on the rooftops i dont remember, although i had like the best memory ever.
you know just like you were saying about how you thought mummy and appachen were old - i was just thinking how i dont visit some of my aunts and uncles in chennai cos they are just a different generation- and i was thinking how i would just feel awful if karan grew up one day and stopped coming to visit you, achachen, anuchechi and so on. so i've decided to go visit everybody here in the near future.
i was just also thinking that we dont have grandparents anymore, which feels kinda strange and i wanted to more about it down for later reference. still cant set up a blog though.
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