Nani... I love you
Last week… while coming from Sohag to Assiyut, I received a call from my wife- my Granny (Naniji) was ill and had been admitted in the Intensive Care Unit. The situation was critical and doctors needed 48 hours of intense observation before they could have said anything.
My granny is 93… her health has been deteriorating for last two three years, continuously. She lost her eyesight, then became extremely hard of hearing, and then got incapacitated… when I met her a few months ago… she couldn’t see me, couldn’t hear my voice- but one touch and she said- Honey!!!! (My pet name), and when she did- I felt like crying… is it all necessary, I asked the God.
She is now out of danger… but doctors say that she has developed a brain tumour that cannot be operated or diluted by the medicine, considering her overall health and age. Perhaps it is a matter of few more days… upon hearing it, I closed my eyes… and remembered Lord Shiva and asked him a small thing… let me be by her side when the inevitable happens. I know he will grant me this wish.
Memories of my Nani go back to my childhood… we were practically brought up by Nani… all four of us. My father was on a transferable job, often working in the rural areas… my mother was working in a local school as a teacher… our family was undergoing terrible times… for reason beyond the scope of this blog. In such circumstances, she brought us up.
I grew up hearing stories narrated by her, doing puja (Hindu prayers) with her, being loved by her and being thrashed by her.
I had one complaint, though… I felt that I was not treated as well by her as she used to treat her paternal grand children. Whenever I picked up a fight with my maternal cousin, I used to be at the receiving end. The complaints however end then and there.
With time, however the bonds grew… and this unequal treatment was a thing of the past.
My Nani was a very progressive woman. She was a post graduate… something unthinkable for a woman in pre-Independence India. Married to a wonderful man, her world fell apart when my Nana (grandfather) died after prolonged illness, leaving behind a very very weak family. Two sons in their formative stages, four daughters… it took a Herculean courage on her part to bring up such a family…
When everybody had written epithet for our family… she single handedly turned the tide… my mother did her post graduation and became a school teacher and got married to a Bank Officer, my two maternal uncles became instructors in polytechnics and three maternal aunts were married in Canada, UAE and Canada respectively to engineers… somebody who understands the nuances of Indian social system would appreciate the turn of tide.
When I was coming to Egypt… she hugged me and kissed me on the forehead and said that I am perhaps the happiest woman on the earth… to have been blessed with such a great grand son. I said no I am perhaps the happiest man on the earth… to have been blessed with such a great grand mother.
Nani… when you will be gone… you know what… you will continue to live with us, guide us… love us, rebuke us… and whisper in my ears… Honey!!!!!
I love you… you were the first women in my life… and the greatest of them all.
My granny is 93… her health has been deteriorating for last two three years, continuously. She lost her eyesight, then became extremely hard of hearing, and then got incapacitated… when I met her a few months ago… she couldn’t see me, couldn’t hear my voice- but one touch and she said- Honey!!!! (My pet name), and when she did- I felt like crying… is it all necessary, I asked the God.
She is now out of danger… but doctors say that she has developed a brain tumour that cannot be operated or diluted by the medicine, considering her overall health and age. Perhaps it is a matter of few more days… upon hearing it, I closed my eyes… and remembered Lord Shiva and asked him a small thing… let me be by her side when the inevitable happens. I know he will grant me this wish.
Memories of my Nani go back to my childhood… we were practically brought up by Nani… all four of us. My father was on a transferable job, often working in the rural areas… my mother was working in a local school as a teacher… our family was undergoing terrible times… for reason beyond the scope of this blog. In such circumstances, she brought us up.
I grew up hearing stories narrated by her, doing puja (Hindu prayers) with her, being loved by her and being thrashed by her.
I had one complaint, though… I felt that I was not treated as well by her as she used to treat her paternal grand children. Whenever I picked up a fight with my maternal cousin, I used to be at the receiving end. The complaints however end then and there.
With time, however the bonds grew… and this unequal treatment was a thing of the past.
My Nani was a very progressive woman. She was a post graduate… something unthinkable for a woman in pre-Independence India. Married to a wonderful man, her world fell apart when my Nana (grandfather) died after prolonged illness, leaving behind a very very weak family. Two sons in their formative stages, four daughters… it took a Herculean courage on her part to bring up such a family…
When everybody had written epithet for our family… she single handedly turned the tide… my mother did her post graduation and became a school teacher and got married to a Bank Officer, my two maternal uncles became instructors in polytechnics and three maternal aunts were married in Canada, UAE and Canada respectively to engineers… somebody who understands the nuances of Indian social system would appreciate the turn of tide.
When I was coming to Egypt… she hugged me and kissed me on the forehead and said that I am perhaps the happiest woman on the earth… to have been blessed with such a great grand son. I said no I am perhaps the happiest man on the earth… to have been blessed with such a great grand mother.
Nani… when you will be gone… you know what… you will continue to live with us, guide us… love us, rebuke us… and whisper in my ears… Honey!!!!!
I love you… you were the first women in my life… and the greatest of them all.
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