I recently lost one of my best friends, my grandmother. When I lost my grand father more than eight years ago, it felt like loosing the one person who loved me most dearly. I did not feel like anyone has ever or will ever love me like he did. Losing my grandmother was a very different feeling though…It felt like I lost a best friend, a confidante.. someone I loved dearly and looked up to for strength in my weak moments. Someone with whom I shared all my innermost feelings. I realize now that this is the woman who really shaped my thinking and played a huge role in making me who I am.
She taught me that – Tomorrow is a new day. Whenever she was having a bad day – be it pain from her chronic spondylitis or from an argument with a family member, whenever I approached her to ask how she was doing, she always said I’ll be fine tomorrow morning because a good night’s sleep has the power to heal it all. Tomorrow is a new day with new hope and it will all be better tomorrow!
She taught me to be elegant – poised and polite. I never once saw her with messy hair or a less than perfectly draped sari. It did not matter what time of the day it was or what her state of mind was, she was always poised inside out. I never heard her have an heated argument with a maid or even raise her voice at me – a child she was trying to discipline.
She taught me to keep all relationships cordial at the least. I do not know a single person in her life that she interacted with half heartedly. Her heart and her home were always open for anyone and everyone.
She taught me that we always have enough to give and to share. No matter how tight money was, no one absolutely no one ever returned from her home without a satisfying meal. Whenever she visited people, she came bearing gifts for all that she had carefully planned for over weeks or months. She had the perfect attitude towards money, while being surrounded by people who either spent beyond their means or were too stingy and selfish to even care for loved ones, she maintained her just right attitude towards money.
She taught me to expect the best from others. She always believed in the good. When someone did something she believed to be incorrect, she always focussed on the fact that there must be a good reason why.
Most importantly, she taught me to laugh my heart out openly without holding back like she always did. She often laughed so hard that she ended up with hurting ribs/stomach. Her smiling face instilled in my memory will always be a place for me to draw strength from.
I am so fortunate to be co-parented by a woman with such a strong and flavorful personality like her. I will live the rest of my life with abundant gratitude in my heart because I love her!
Drive Through 