Ma Bamma.

The end of the year 2004 saw the end of the last of my Grand parents. To me this may not make a very big difference but then there is some kind of unexplained gap. I have always yearned for a grand father. Whenever I hear people, from outside the family, talking about both maternal and paternal granpa’s I feel very good and just then there is this want to have been acquainted with such personalities.

Day before yesterday while I was loitering in the house I chanced upon her memoirs. She had summed up some of her life’s most cherished moments and some experiences that left an indelible mark upon her life. As long as I have known her she was a lady with perfect health and a person with no idea whatsoever of procrastination. I always believed she would live to be a Centurion and wanted my kids to know her. This crazy belief is what makes it hard for me to believe that she is no more.

She was a lady who had impeccable memory and this database am sure would put any fetching algorithm to shame. She had an admirable collection of sarees. The best part was that these included such unconventional and rare colours that every saree seems superb. It was not just the collection it was also the maintenance that was of a superior quality. She stuck to this regime till the end. An excellent cook and home maker. Her only regret being not been able to become a doc. But this interest was so great that she knew the human anatomy so well and its related diseases and drugs that she amazed those docs she went to :-).

The part where I connected with her was with books. She was an avid reader of both English and Telugu literature. We have had some very interesting conversations about Pearl .S. Buck , Tolstoy and many others. I do miss these. We did exchange some books and one of her favorite Anna Karenina was lent to me before she could read it for the second time. We all shared another thing in common… she was a major competitor for all the chocs that father and uncles got for us :-). Ice-cream parties were a common feature with her. She was a very flexible lady and something really admiring was her effortless ability to adjust in different places. I am sure its pretty tough to do that at the age of 70 and over, after having lived a whole life upon one’s terms. There was always a certain amount of stubbornness and control that she always had in her.

I wouldn’t like to call this an obituary. These are just some of the many things I have known about and probably shared with her. A memory I wouldn’t like it to fade.