My Grandmother

I don't want to think over how i should start this post, i want to let the words just come out. She was a very special person not only in my life but in the life of so many of my family members,.I had seen her in the role of a sister, a mother , a grand mother and a kind old lady who never shied from expressing her views. She was a strong woman...oh!, there is no one who ever knew her would doubt what i said. She was a women of the world, she held sway by her belief in her views. In practical matters none could compare to her. She was even though of a generation when women were not considered that important was important, no man i have ever met could do the stuff she took care of. Her organizational skills were impeccable, she kept everything at the right place. If you wanted something you just had to go to that place and the thing would be there.
Not only was she important in the family, but she was also important in the society though not on a large and a grand scale but at least on a local scale, people from nearby came for her advice, she had lots of experience and everyone could learn from her. She was excellent with kids, why wouldn't she be? She had raised 7 kids of her own and even the kids of her kids. When you would look at her holding a child, or talking and looking after the child she seemed natural for that job as if she was just the person for it. She was strict but she was loving too. Her love for us and her concern for us was genuine and selfless. Why did she go about scolding us the whole day, pointing out our mistakes and our carelessness...not because she was a bitter and critical person but she was looking after us, protecting us wanting us to be better people and people who were capable of doing things in the right and dignified way.
I don't remember much about her from when i was young, i was afraid of her and well i didn't really have an attachment with any of my elders, i was very frightened of every elder in my family, till this day am. But i got to live with her for one year recently and really got to see her in action, and know her. I didn't talk much with her because well i can't make conversation with elders and i really don't talk sense most of the time and i don't feel free enough to talk nonsense with my elders. It was my didi(big sister) actually who had told me lots of stuff about her and through her words i came to acknowledge her existence though i might have got to spend more time with her than my didi ever did. And then i started observing her actions, and i got to know of this great person.
I used to do gardening with her every evening, we have this little garden in our house and she was the person who looked after it completely, well because of her age she couldn't move much so i and other brothers and sisters of mine had to do the little things for her like watering the plants or fetching some tool or the other. I used to love that time, i really wanted to help her out well because out of courtesy( i have a little bit of that) i didn't want an old woman to be dragging herself around while i stood by watching. I used to go shopping with her sometimes. She knew everything about running a house and was very good at it. She used to keep stock of all the things needed around the house. She was a very resourceful person and she didn't waste anything! I really mean nothing, she was an environment friendly housewife.
I got scolded by her a lot, but i didn't mind it, because most of the time she was right. Whenever i was clumsy, messed up things, didn't do things properly because of my ignorance i would get scolded, and was laughed at when i didn't bring the proper item she asked me to bring for her, well...because i didn't know the proper hindi word for that and usually had to go back and search for something which i had no idea about, and even the second time there was no guarantee i would bring the right thing.
I miss the face she used to make when i used to say or do something on the sly or make a mistake or say and do something stupid. I miss the gardening, i miss bringing stuff for her or just sitting and waiting for the next thing she'll ask me to do.
It happened too fast, i had said goodbye to her last summer and gotten a scolding from her for doing nothing but sleeping during the vacation. I didn't know she would get that sick and so soon. I never got to say goodbye and never got to talk to her one last time though i don't know what i would have talked about. But i am not complaining...that's not the important part. She is gone and she will never come back.Its amazing how a person who physically existed just doesn't exist any more, she is just not in this world anymore...
With time everyone is forgotten, the living need it to continue their life, she'll be forgotten too. I'll forget her too but i hope her memories would at least stay alive in this article. I do miss her, but i know i won't for long...