When grandma visits!

I had just finished my usual morning routine(dropping V to school, not wanting to leave from his classroom, thinking of becoming a preschool teacher as future career etc) and was just settling in with my cup of hot tea (that I had reheated for the 29th time) when I noticed the toy stainless-steel lunch box and water tank on the dining table. V must've sneaked them out of my chest.

They were my most cherished toys from my childhood. They were the 2 of the many toys that my dear maternal grandmother had bought for me and that had survived all the cross continental moves. I still remember that day vividly. My grandmother took me to this toy store near our home in Worli. She got my name and date engraved on it. I asked her to run on our way back since I wanted to start playing with it right away. When we got home, she made tiny chapatis that fit in just right, some veggies and rice and packed them all in the brand new lunch box. That made me so happy, obviously, but  I noticed that she was smiling more than me :)

My grandmother- I called her Vasanti Aai. A witty, intelligent woman with a heart of a child, a rare combination, especially in her generation, that made her stand out.

Most Indian women born in her time were expected to learn cooking starting from the age of 5-6? She, on the other hand took swimming lessons from her grandfather. She lost her dad at her very young age and her grandfather took care of them and did what he could to keep them happy. She described him as a fine man. She loved learning. She was 1 of the 2 women in the entire state of Maharashtra who had passed their S.S.C board examinations in the first attempt and with a great score. She did not want to stop at that. So left her little village in Konkan and came to Mumbai, took a job, and like any other Mumbaikar worked very hard. Then she met my grandfather(who btw was a Gujarati). Nope, they did not elope. She was a fighter. They managed to convince their families and married with their consent. Of course it's no big deal now, but those days it was a huge thing.

She was a voracious reader, a rubik's cube master, great cook, did the best mimicry and one of the billion fans of cricket and Sachin! Nothing made her more happy than watching Sachin play cricket!

She divided her stay between Mumbai and Gujarat.  After we moved to Goa, she added that to her list too.  It was fun having her around. The time that she spent with us are some my most favorite childhood memories. She would braid my hair in different styles..said it made me look less nerdy and giggle.

Dinners would be liking having a Thanksgiving feast everyday except that instead of Turkey it was fish and all kinds of it.. Every type of fish available in that season would be served on our dinner table in the form of curry, cutlets, fish steak and what not. She had become best friends with the lady who brought fish from door to door. (Yeah! In Goa, you can actually buy fish at your doorstep..just like the milkman, we have a fish woman there :P)

"To hell with diet. I'm going back to Gujarat. Be sympathetic" That would be her answer when anyone reminded her of her cholesterol levels. She used humor to escape from awkward situations. She carried a box of her medications that she referred to as "mithai cha dabba" (sweet treats jar) :D

Lunch times were the best because it would be just me and her. I would do my homework, she would argue with me about something or the other. One time it was about history. "These people(the education board) have distorted the facts", she said, while working on the rubik's cube, when she heard me reading my history textbook.

I wish I had written down all the tales she told me. Her narration style was very engrossing. When I listened to her talk, I often wondered what it would be to be a student in one of her classes.

Oh yes, she was a teacher for many years! She, along with few of her friends co-founded a free Gujarati medium school for the under privileged children. She taught English and Gujarati in that school. Despite being a Maharashtrian, she could speak, read and write in Gujarati which she learnt only after her marriage to my grandfather. She left her full time job to be with her children and teach the under privileged. That school she started is still around and doing pretty good.

She was my role model! I wish I can achieve half of what she achieved in her lifetime.

How we all wish she was still around. Hmm.

Talking about cricket, solving every word puzzle in every newspaper (English, Marathi, Gujarati) that was lying around, acting reserved around people she thought were uninteresting and mimicking them right after they had left, cooking excellent fish curry meals, sighing melodramatically with the thought having to spend winter in Gujarat  with no seafood to eat- that was my Aaji! That's how she spent her time when she grew old.

Life became duller for all of us after her death. Her intelligence, humor, warmth, charm was unparalleled. 

Vasanti- means spring/ happy in Marathi. There couldn't have been a better name for her.
Full of life, that was her- my Vasanti Aai!