Dear Dad,
Today is a very special day …. For the first time in 68 years, Amma is coming alone by train from Hyderabad. I have mixed feelings – am happy that she has made the effort and am praying the trip is without incident, so she doesn’t feel scared. No, technically she is not alone, there is a person in another compartment who is a friend of a friend and who will ensure he meets her every few hours and also waits with her at Nizamuddin till Krishnan meets them to pick her up. Ofcourse Krishnan will be there atleast half an hour before the train even arrives. She also has been receiving hourly phone calls to check in on her from several of us. :):)
There are several other things that Amma has learnt to do and some things have changed since you have been gone … She now uses the mixie and the Idli grinder by herself and doesn’t need anyone to operate them ! And she made you operate them for 40 years 🙂
She also uses the lift all by herself and doesn’t wait for someone to be in the lift before getting in – infact she even managed to ring the alarm bell when the lift got stuck once and climbed out of it using a stool !! I can see your happy grin.
The best of all is she can hear and speak perfectly well on the cellphone. Do you remember the road trip you made to Bangalore with her ? She would just say all that she wanted to without listening to a word I was saying because she thought she couldn’t listen on a cellphone.
It’s almost like Krishnan and I are bringing up a daughter – teaching her to face the world bravely, learn new things, become self reliant and most of all just enjoy her life… Maybe this is why you left suddenly and we never felt the need for a child. She is gutsy in her own way, but avoids it mostly 🙂
Yeah, she still drives me up the wall and we still fight everyday and I am constantly telling her what to do or not to do like I have for so many years… Guess some things can’t change and shouldn’t change. Just like her way with clothes – no one can keep their clothes looking like new like Amma does. The white shirts and white pants that you were so fond of and her amazing ability to wash them in such a way that their crease was not disturbed !
By the way, she stayed with Anu for the last ten days and had a blast with her children and her music classes.
There are days when I almost sense your presence in the kitchen when I am fighting with Amma about mixing up the vessels and using whatever empty bottle she finds for whatever item she wants to put into it and can almost hear you telling me you will arrange things back the way I like them – I know you are probably saying it to me, just from a different dimension, so I arrange them back the way I want.
Goodnight Nanagaru, am sleepy. Will write another note some other day. Didn’t want to miss recording this important step in Amma’s independence. 🙂
Lots of love
Malu