Thursday, March 24, 2011

Love you Tatayya!!!!

Yes it is 6th January 1918. Why did I say this was the greatest puzzle I have ever solved – because it is the birth date of my dearest Tatayya( Granddad) – my soul mate and my darling.  I just thought what if one of the pieces in the puzzle was missing. Would it make a difference?  Ofcourse not, it did not make any in the last 9 decades of his life. He always lived a free man and of course a hassle free man :-).

My days spent with my grandparents in their village, during school vacation are the best memories I have of my childhood. Coming from an agriculture based family – I had all the fun running around the farms, climbing the trees, harvesting the feed, washing the cows, pulling water from the wells, riding the bullock carts –Oh I just could do whatever I wanted and was treated like a princess in the village they lived in. Celebrated all festivals in their full glory making the rangolis – one bigger than the other, dancing around them, everyday was a Diwali - helping  clean the lanterns and lighting them in and around the house ( They did not have electricity in the villages in those days). Always gobbling up the yumm yumm fresh butter that my grandma used to store to make ghee, lip smacking smoked food cooked in the earthen ware pots..... oh the memories are too many and I am sad that my children could not experience the same. 

Viswanatham as he is called, he is just 93 yrs old, weak and fragile in his body but as good in his memory as any of us. He told me in Dec  - I am a bit weak , else I would have come and visited you in Norway. Isn't that sweet? It is amazing a man from a small village in India , who had no education whatsoever, learn't some numbers and alphabets to maintain his family expenditure,  helped my grandmother in her household works, who was sort of “treasurer” to the entire village where people trusted him with their gold, cash and documents to be tucked away in his big Iron safe which only he can operate :-). He follows cricket like any of us do and knows by name all the cricketers world wide.  He looked at my son in the last visit in July and said that his hair style looked like Ricky Ponting – The Australian cricket captain :-).  He greets every  visitor to the house and enquires about their kith and kin  remembering all in 5 generations leaving everyone in awe.   I am his favorite grandchild and he is my dearest dearest granddad and that inner connection we share is divine. 


14 comments:

  1. Sniff. Sitting here surrounded by sleet, I went back to my Tatha too. They also lived in a gorgeous village. I visited them in June and helped Paati make butter by churning it with a long pole and then Paati would put it in the ugranu (pantry?) which was dark. I would only walk in a couple of feet into the ugranu. Thanks for the lovely memories. We lived too far to celebrate festivals with anybody. I feel so sorry for myself and my children. My husband grew up with so many relatives from both sides that I doubt if he even realizes what he has and what we have missed. I understand it when my son sometimes says he is lonely. He has a wee 3 year old cousin. My son is 19 :) in college.
    OK off with the senti tone. Lovely lovely post. Thanks for posting such a difficult puzzle that made me feel privileged to solve it. I am usually a tubelight when it comes to all this.

    My3

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  2. What a lovely post Shanthi- Really sweet! Reminded me of my grandfathers :( Its really nice to hear that he is 93!! and still is so active! He reminds me so much of my granma is 83, and I hope she lives till 93.

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  3. yes indeed grandparents are the best gift any child can have isn't it?
    @My3 - Yes I know that long pole :-) and the sounds of churning buttermilk with it was my suprabatham in the morning :-). I know the dark wooden bowl too to store the butter kept in a small wooden cupboard.
    @Divya True Divya anything related to grand parents is sweet as we share too many sweet memories with them right?

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  4. So the answer is 6th Jan! :) Shanthi, this is such a beautiful post filled with sweet memories! It made me think of my own grandparents, none of who are alive today, but who would have been in their nineties now! You are lucky to have him around, and your kids are lucky too!

    s

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  5. aaaawww... such a sweet post.. Grand parents are always special... I dont have any special memories with my grand dad... but my grand mom and me.. and truly soul mates.. Today.. I'm the only grand child that she doesn't forget.. Its funny sometimes!! that she doesn't recognise the others occasionally... but I have a special place in her heart... *sniff*... awww.. I must go visit her today... Thanks.. Shanthi!!

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  6. Shanthi - I love your personal story! Please write more about your childhood as well as your perspectives on Norway. We are so lucky to have you in this cold country :-)

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  7. Thathas and Paatis are great. My own 89 year old grandma still lives in Chennai and sings to me in her sweet warbly voice every time I go.
    Lovely post Shanthi!

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  8. @patty - Lovely give her a big from me too :-)
    @Kamini - Yes hats off to their songs, lullaby's, stories and golden memories
    @Ingela - Thank you. you made my day :-)

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  9. @sharon - Yes indeed I am very very lucky :-). Though not close in the vicinity - he can still talk to me on phone.

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  10. what a beautiful post. Lots of wishes for your grand father.

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  11. hello from canada! thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving me a comment. Lovely post about your grandad!

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  12. what a coincidence my maternal grandfather name is also viswanatham and I was his face grand child too and our vacations were filled with running around farms and fields your post sure brought back memories. I do miss him dearly and often see him in my dreams.

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  13. True, such a sweet story! Makes me think of all the memories that my dad always told me about and we only see in movies. And all grandparents are such a treasure. Everytime I can connect my children with them by phone or when we vist India, I feel such happiness. Really a lovely post taking us all down memory lane!

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  14. @all - Thank you. I am glad it took all back in time to recap the sweet memories

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