she's looks exactly like a grandma should. she's round and short(ok. not so short, but she's shorter than me, and mom too). and she's soft like a pillow. so you'd think she's some gentle old woman who has lived her life exactly the way countless other indian women in her time have, the way she was supposed to. well, you'd be wrong.
growing up in vijaywada, she was the youngest of four very unique sisters. she's never been big on telling us about her childhood, she tells us mostly about her children. but one thing she did tell me, was of the time when she and her older sister, sirisha, used to walk back from school singing naughty rhymes.
in a time when women were not supposed to be seen or heard, my grandmother studied in chennai, lived in a working womens' hostel while she worked, played tennis, wrote poetry, was in the cadets and what not. a few years back, when my grandparents went to chennai, my granddad said jokingly,"we're going to check if the town is still red from when she painted it". where other girls were married when they were in their early teens, she got married at 25. and she married a great man. soon after my mother was born, they went off to the united states. my grandfather was a professor at the time.
those are days that she remembers fondly. and she derives great pleasure from telling us that she got her drivers license in a shot, and my grandfather had to take the test twice!
she's a pistol. and in my father's words: " you should have seen her when she was young. she was like an army general. there was nothing she couldn't do."
my brother teases her mercilessly. o, but she doesn't take it sitting down. she doles it right back out, quick witted sense of humour that she has.
and then there are those wonderfully ammamma dialogues:
"neeku pillalu unaappudu choostane. ekkada untano teleedu" - wait till you have children. i'll be watching, wherever i am.
and then there's the tremendous loyalty and support. whatever happens, she has a word of encouragement. and she always believes that you have it in you to do whatever you want to.
her parties are legendary. she's a great hostess, and an amazing cook.
smart, lovable, and kind, she's the best ammamma in the world.
growing up in vijaywada, she was the youngest of four very unique sisters. she's never been big on telling us about her childhood, she tells us mostly about her children. but one thing she did tell me, was of the time when she and her older sister, sirisha, used to walk back from school singing naughty rhymes.
in a time when women were not supposed to be seen or heard, my grandmother studied in chennai, lived in a working womens' hostel while she worked, played tennis, wrote poetry, was in the cadets and what not. a few years back, when my grandparents went to chennai, my granddad said jokingly,"we're going to check if the town is still red from when she painted it". where other girls were married when they were in their early teens, she got married at 25. and she married a great man. soon after my mother was born, they went off to the united states. my grandfather was a professor at the time.
those are days that she remembers fondly. and she derives great pleasure from telling us that she got her drivers license in a shot, and my grandfather had to take the test twice!
she's a pistol. and in my father's words: " you should have seen her when she was young. she was like an army general. there was nothing she couldn't do."
my brother teases her mercilessly. o, but she doesn't take it sitting down. she doles it right back out, quick witted sense of humour that she has.
and then there are those wonderfully ammamma dialogues:
"neeku pillalu unaappudu choostane. ekkada untano teleedu" - wait till you have children. i'll be watching, wherever i am.
and then there's the tremendous loyalty and support. whatever happens, she has a word of encouragement. and she always believes that you have it in you to do whatever you want to.
her parties are legendary. she's a great hostess, and an amazing cook.
smart, lovable, and kind, she's the best ammamma in the world.
2 comments:
Lovely piece. And you've described her so well. Brings to mind all the wonderful memories when I spent time with her (and pednanna) during my college days.
Madhavi
thanks akka :)
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