My grandma is older than India’s independence. She’s no taller than 4 feet 9 and I call her ‘Amma’. She was married at 16 to my grandfather, who she says looked like a Bollywood superstar. I have no memory of my grandfather but judging by her pride, I bet he was a catch!
Recently, I got a notification Amma was live on Facebook and I instinctively clicked to see her singing one of her favorite songs too close to the camera. The other day, I got a concerned call from her when someone commented on my display pic, “This is sick!”. She religiously explained to me how to make the perfect herbal tea to feel better. She also insisted I send her pictures of me drinking the tea for the next five days. She is addicted to online games and I often see her posting her results from quizzes like “Which Game of Thrones character are You?” or “How will you die?”. Now she’s on Twitter and her tweets crack me up every time.
Growing up, whenever I would come home after my day’s shopping, try on the clothes once again, and show them to my mom and her, she wouldn’t hold back and tell me the dress looked absolutely awful. Her complete lack of tact in ripping off the bandage amazed me every time and I would look at my mom who would say I looked beautiful anyway. That’s also the reason why I could not trust my mother with things like these!
Although deeply spiritual, Amma was never the religious type and when I would see my dad and mom going these extra miles organizing religious rites and rituals, I would see her sitting nonchalantly in a corner munching peanuts. There was a constant tiff in our house for the TV remote between my dad who wanted to watch news and godmen, and my grandma who wanted her daily dose of Ekta Kapoor soap operas. She told me one day, “Your dad is really superstitious and morbidly boring.” I mean between the two, definitely my grandma knew how to have more fun!
She was my best friend growing up and she still is. As a kid, I would look forward to accompanying her to local markets because I would get my pick at anything I wanted. Everyday before school, she would pack my lunch. She was also my go-to home tutor for Math, English, Hindi and Sanskrit. I remember asking her the same question every other day and her explaining it to me over and over again, with the same enthusiasm as the first time. She has not been cooking for years now as her health deteriorates, and I stopped eating ‘Malpuas’ the day she stepped out of kitchen.
We have our own secret handshake that ends up with me hugging and kissing her cheeks and her pretend annoyance with the whole goddamn thing. Once I was late for my flight and left the house in a hurry just kissing her goodbye only to learn later that she cried I forgot about our secret handshake. So, I made sure I did it right the next time and I saw her getting worked up and annoyed and absolutely thankful at the same time!
I have been seeing her less and less over the years and we’re not even in the same continent anymore. I try keeping up with her, but she can barely hear me over the phone. Whenever I video call her, she tells everyone I came home to visit her and my heart breaks a little. I know she won’t read or understand this anymore, even if I tell her myself, but I really do hope she knows that I carry a bit of her with me every day wherever I go!
Such a lovely tribute to your Amma, Sati. 💜
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Thank you for reading, Carol!🖤
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💜
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This is so cute, I love stories like the herbal tea thing. It’s a great look at the way different people interact with technology
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Thank you for reading! 🖤 I find it fascinating too, especially when different generations interact!
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She’s beautiful! I loved hearing about your relationship. My grandmother was one of my best friends if not my best friend. A huge loss for me when she died.
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I can imagine! Hope your grandmother’s at a better place and at peace. And so good to know you were close to her as well!
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Wow wonderful
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Thank You!
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So sweet Vishakha. She is adorable
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She is! Thank you for reading, Ashok😊
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Amazing Vishakha..
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Thanks Athira!🖤
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Most welcome..🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
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Such a touching account. Your grandmom is an ideal for others. Thank you for sharing 😊
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I’m glad you liked meeting her! Thank you for reading!😊
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You’re welcome 🙏
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Wow, you have cool Grandma.
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I got lucky! 🖤
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What a nice tribute to your Grandmother!
dwight
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Thank you Dwight, appreciate you making the time! 😊
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You are welcome!
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Wonderful inspiration 🙏
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I’m so glad it inspired you!🖤
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What a beautiful post about your Amma! I feel your pain at not being able to communicate as well with my elderly aunt and continents away.
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Hey Kerry, glad you could relate. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!🖤
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You are most welcome. 💕
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Such a beautiful post.So inspiring
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Glad you liked it, thank you for reading!🖤
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My pleasure✨
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Lovely.
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Thank you!🖤
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Your love for grandma is commendable, Vishakha.
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Thanks Sumit, appreciate you reading it!
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This is really beautiful😊 Your grandma sounds like a really fun, amazing person😇 You’re both blessed to have each other. God bless her
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Glad you enjoyed reading it, and thank you, I do feel blessed to have her!🖤
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Why does this piece make me want to meet your Amma Vishakha? A completely amazing woman!
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I wish you could too! I’m so very proud and fond of her 🙂
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Awwww this is so lovely ❤❤❤
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G;ad you liked it, thank you for reading! 🙂
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Lovely post Vishakha
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Thank you Sunith! 🙂
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Rocking Amma ji
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She is, thanks! 🙂
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👌
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i felt good vibes after reading it thanks for sharing
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I’m glad you liked it, thank you for reading!
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Warm & Uplifting ❤️
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Glad you liked it!❤️
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What a lovely post in honour of your Amma who obviously means a lot to you. And sounds like a fun and beautiful person.
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She is, I’m extremely lucky to have her!😊
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This bond is so cool, you remind me of my grandma 👵 nicely written Vishakha 🙂💐
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Glad it brought back some good memories, thank you for reading!😊
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The ending is so heartwarming. I never had the company of my grandma or any elder relative. Your grandma sounds real cool tbh❤️
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Ah, I wish you had the chance, but I’m sure you’d have so many others in your life to be thankful for! Thank you for reading😊
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Yep. Welcome! 😊💫
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Nice blog dear, I wish every child in our next generation can love their grandmom like this and give respect and cherish those memories!😊
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I’d wish it too. Grandparents’ love is so pure, I hope everyone gets to experience that!❤️
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She sounds really amazing and cool! This reminded me of my grandmother. Loved this post!
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I’m glad it took you on a walk down the memory lane!
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This is so sweet! I’m happy you have such good memories of her.
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Thank you so much, guess I got lucky there :))
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