Grandmother...

Part ...1

Why I want to write my time spent with my grandma? I'm not sure but I think it will help me imbibe her thoroughly , May be!

She is the warmest person so far I have met in my life. She and I always had a very subtle understanding and love for each other. As a child of say 5-6 years old I was very talkative and bold. May be that took me close to her. Oh! I forgot to mention her name is Smt. Sitamma. She was of petite fit and towards the brownish side of skin color and full of enthusiasm and life. Her devotion to God, I can not do justice how much ever I write about that. I have never seen laziness around her even at 80+yrs of age. For me she is all-in-one ideal! She had a bunch of grandchildren but I can say now that I'm very very very close to her. she also was well-balanced to all but we had a deeper connection.

My summer vacations were spent at grandparents place during my school days. Oh those days !

 

@Rainbow03 ...Thank you

 

Part 2.....

Grandma would wake up early in the morning , dawn, get fresh (bath etc) and then arrange the coffee filter ( South Indian style) and by 10 AM she would have cooked all the lunch...rice, dal, curry, chutney, gravy(pullusu) and fresh home made yogurt.....with all purity called MADI ( it means after bath they wear fresh clothes and do not touch anybody until all the cooking is done and offered to God).She would offer all the food with utmost love and devotion to God which was very clear in her eyes.
Her kitchen was a huge rectangle with one end for cooking and the other end had the altar . She could easily offer all the food to God from there. The place between the two ends was big enough for say 5-6 people to sit and eat.
Forgot to mention, she would light lamp first to God and then start cooking , humming stotrams in a low tone.
I was small so in-spite of all the snacking , 10 AM was kind of feeling hungry time, so used to jump or rather cross the kitchen often to check on her!
She was a super super cook . Her lentils (pappu) , brinjal curry etc are one of a kind taste. All agree to this in the family.
She is very organized and super simple and clean. After lunch is over, she would change her saree and clean the ground with wet or clean cloth in front of Kottu gadi(store room) that opens into family room and use the step that goes into store room as her pillow. she always avoided using stuff from her bed during the day time. I don't exactly remember how long but she had a particular time for nap and as soon as the time is over she would wake up without alarm clock and freshen up and back to kitchen for evening coffee or milk according to the age.

 

@stayblessed ...Thank you

 

Part 3....

I would always sleep with her there in the nap time. I would enjoying sleeping with her. Then she slowly moves for dinner preparations and that being summer, we used to eat in the backyard (with moon and stars above) that had boundary walls for privacy. Right in front of the patio door, small roof was organized with coconut leaves and water was sprayed in the evenings on the ground to keep the soil calm and ready for us to have dinner without dust. Usually it would be light dinner... Rice,Simple Curry, Rasam and Buttermilk. Grandma used to make it at home by churning the traditional way . we were given the butter right from the buttermilk pot ... yummy!

Those days it was customary to sit down on the floor ,on the raised wooden planks and dinner plates (stainless steel and silver dinner plates) on the ground. It was hard for me because we used to eat on dinning table at our place but we loved to eat on the floor in grandparents presence. Their love was so pure and warm.

Evenings also she would light lamp in the altar. God was inseparable to her. Her favorite was God Tirupathi Sri. Venkateshwara Swami.

Oh those star-lit ,moon nights ,I can never forget. Even now as I 'm writing, it is so vivid and clear to my imagination or memory as anyone would call it. She had a cute cot made of wooden frame and cotton ribbon (navarru) in the middle from one side to the other. So she would sleep on that cot which is good for only one adult petite form and may be a baby utmost. I was always sleeping with her at night though it was not very comfortable for her, she always welcomed me to sleep with her and I would always look forward to that .....

 

@satchitananda ,@ojaantrik....Thank You