A curd rice thought - Being Suman....

The other day when I was making curd rice for my Granny, one of her favorites, I couldn’t help but notice the change in the roles that had happened.

Tadkewali Dahi Chawal (tempered curd rice) has been my favorite dish since ages. I was introduced to it by my Grandmother (Nani) and since then it has been consistently my preferred form of rice. Even today I drool over the thought of it. Apart from curd rice, Grandma has brought in my life the love for reading, knitting and creative writing.

I remember the walks that we had till school, reciting Ram Raksha, adhyays from Sri Bhagwad Gita and Maruti Stotra… I remember the evenings spent in the gardens chasing dragonflies, butterflies… Smelling Mogra (Jasmin).. Collecting Jaswand (hibiscus flowers), Lilies, Roses, Aboli (Crossandra flowers)… I remember there was once a red breasted bluebird which used to frequent our garden and I sought after him when suddenly one day he failed to turn up… I remember my Julie, a Pomeranian puppy, who was my little angel and granny’s baby… She brought so much love and light in

our lives just to free herself from Granny’s arms one day and run away so far that we could never find her back…

 Life keeps running and we keep chasing it… We keep looking for joy in others and fail to look into the closest thing for it… Our souls… We crib and cry for the smallest of things that we couldn’t get and conveniently overlook the beauty of the things we already possess…

When I look at Granny today, I realize how much she must have suffered… She has been a strong woman… Surpassing all the sorrows… Little help from her husband… Little money… Costs of daily necessities, education for her girls… Overcoming the boundaries of womanhood… Making way for herself and her daughters… Bringing them up… Such strong two girls… Carving out of them beautiful individuals, who have in turn seen the worst of situations but still managed to emerge triumphant… Amidst this how much she must have lost and how much she must have craved for her share of happiness…

 I wonder at the way life turns the tables… Like a game of chess… The only difference being, in chess the king and queen are constant… In life if today one is a king or queen, tomorrow they may have to assume roles of pawns… Life is all about changing roles, adapting to the new ones, giving one’s best to the roles assigned, being ready for the next one and round and round the cycle of life goes…

My Granny has been my guardian and today roles have reversed… She needs me to guard her… A helpless soul, who had once managed to prevail over all helpless situations…, who was once a lioness who hunted and lived her whole life for her cubs… She is now a feeble voice who has lost all the logic and rationale of living… Who has created world through her kids and their kids and is now a vanished soul… But should you mistake her of being defeated?… She still has the lioness in her… She can still roar with all her might, if at stake are her children… The roles would reverse but the stories would continue… As aptly put in a song…

“Kal khel mein,Hum ho na ho,Gardish mein tare rahenge sada…Bhuloge tum.. Bhulenge sab..Par hum tumhare rahenge sada..” 

Love you Grandma... May we all find ourselves the same grit and survival instinct that you have shown till date...