In Fond Remembrance of Ms.Annapurna

I just received the news that my grand-mother died. Her name is Annapurna.

I have a hard time placing my memories of the time spent with her.I recollect the atrium in her house where I used to spend my summers carefree.Tha ripe mango yield of the season was disbursed among all her grandkids who assembled at the ancestral place. I have fond memories of sitting on the from porch with gothic pillars and eating mangoes while a small canal used to run through the house.Eat the mangoes , throw the seed in the canal.

In fact I was born on the cement porch constructed in the atrium. I can still smell the Champak/Sampengi (Botanical Name : Michelia champaca, belongs to a family of Magnolias) flowers blossom in the courtyard. Upstairs Grandpa used to have his library and music instruments. The temple at the end of the street.

I can remember sitting by her and asking her questions on Mahabharata, our family history, how I behaved as a kid. She was never shy in details.In fact I am supposed to inherit some of her eidetic memory. She used to be skinny but string.Her patience enoromous in carrying out her daily inanities.She never could get my name properly.She used to call me "Paveen" in her usual way of dropping the "r".

She is gone and most of my immediate family/relatives should be relieved.This is because once a person grows to more than 80 one starts becoming a pain, even to his own folks.You gotta take good care medically but provide some moral,pyschological support which is a scarce thing. She lost blood recently and needed a "O-". By definition "O-" is a universal donor but not a universal acceptor.They had a little hardship in securing her the supply of blood.I do have "O-" but I am far and away to be of any use to her.

Strangely I dont feel any pain of losing her. In fact I was telling my pop that of late I am associated with my friends' grannies than my own. I might be a little "cold" but thats okay.

I could see the glow in her face when I gave the Rs.100/- which was given to me by the Govt. Of India in my high school (+2) for doing something that classified me as some kind that needed money.( They call it recognizing Merit as determined by your GPA).Mind you it is not the money nor the alleged acheivement that caused her the happiness but the 'gesture'. I think there is some kind of pleasure in small things of life as you grow old.

There are probably some other things that will come to mind when I brood over it. I am glad that I dont know her age and that i preceive her for what she is through her 'Character'.

She grew deaf as she was marking time and She had to go through surgery and had to take a ton of pills the last I remember. Last i talked to her was over the phone when she was repeatedly asking me the same questions.Senility had set in.I was told that at 2:30 Pm IST that she stopped converting oxygen to carbon-dioxide. I had half a tear in my eye.No.They werent enough to swell and overflow out of the eye.They were reabsorbed...

I dont have any Grannies or Grandpas left anymore. This is it. The end of my "grand" generation as I know it.

One More Engine in this World has been Silenced....