Sunshine. Sunshiny smiles and happiness were the things we associated with her. At her age she was an oddity. Where other grandma's were a mass of aches, pains and unsolicited advice, she was the child amidst us. Like if we were carrying heavy bags, she would offer to carry them for us! Like if we were bunking college to go see a movie, she would cover our backsides for us,telling the parents that she had sent us on an errand! She thoroughly approved daring necklines ( 'think how they'd look on us. I wish i was forty years younger.') She thought low waist jeans were cool, and tatoos hot.
Surprisingly, she was the one to whom everyone turned if they had problems of the emtional kind. With her positive and contemporary outlook, youngsters loved and trusted her more than they did their own parents. Very independant, she lived alone in our small hometown, visiting us sometimes in Mumbai.
On one such visit, I took her for a walk to Marine lines and the promenade there. But first we had to travel by train. Getting on was not a problem, getting off, the crowd had built up. Keeping her ahead of me, I managed to push us both off the train, in the face of the oncoming crowd. Turning around, I saw gran trying to help a woman, hanging precariously, up thru the overcrowded door. Holding her by her backside, gran pushed ! The woman landed inside, and then only did gran accompany me.
On the promenade, as we were walking along, there appeared a scooterist negotiating traffic with three children and his buxom wife perched on the seat and clinging on for dear life to her children. Before I could stop her gran charged ahead shouting," Taxi !" The man, gave her a dirty look, from above the head of the youngest kid and sailed on. Gran remarked merely that maybe we needed scooter taxis in Mumbai, since they could carry more that the mandatory four people in four wheeler cabs.
On our way back, I was leading her across the road, when she stopped in her tracks, went back, and returned, leading a young blind man by his cane. "Thank you ma'am. I would've missed my train, if you hadnt helped." said the man.Ashamed to be part of the impatient teeming hoards rushing by, I mulled over the paradox. An old woman had helped a young man cross the road.
That was my gran. The one who lighted up lives wherever she went.
Surprisingly, she was the one to whom everyone turned if they had problems of the emtional kind. With her positive and contemporary outlook, youngsters loved and trusted her more than they did their own parents. Very independant, she lived alone in our small hometown, visiting us sometimes in Mumbai.
On one such visit, I took her for a walk to Marine lines and the promenade there. But first we had to travel by train. Getting on was not a problem, getting off, the crowd had built up. Keeping her ahead of me, I managed to push us both off the train, in the face of the oncoming crowd. Turning around, I saw gran trying to help a woman, hanging precariously, up thru the overcrowded door. Holding her by her backside, gran pushed ! The woman landed inside, and then only did gran accompany me.
On the promenade, as we were walking along, there appeared a scooterist negotiating traffic with three children and his buxom wife perched on the seat and clinging on for dear life to her children. Before I could stop her gran charged ahead shouting," Taxi !" The man, gave her a dirty look, from above the head of the youngest kid and sailed on. Gran remarked merely that maybe we needed scooter taxis in Mumbai, since they could carry more that the mandatory four people in four wheeler cabs.
On our way back, I was leading her across the road, when she stopped in her tracks, went back, and returned, leading a young blind man by his cane. "Thank you ma'am. I would've missed my train, if you hadnt helped." said the man.Ashamed to be part of the impatient teeming hoards rushing by, I mulled over the paradox. An old woman had helped a young man cross the road.
That was my gran. The one who lighted up lives wherever she went.
love it..she was a great great lady..so independant..so amazing..so courageous..so livley..
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