Share five things you’re good at.
The Sun hadn’t been able to emerge with all its brightness that day. The air carried a touch of cold, there was a possibility of rain. The porch outside was my grandmother’s favourite place and there she sat by herself in a world of which we knew very little.
The house has been in the family for many generations now. In front of the house, there used to be a large open field covered by grass and some trees. Children used to enjoy playing and running around there. When grandmother was a child, she also used to be one of those running, playing, dancing, and rejoicing in life.
The open field began to disappear as more buildings came up and before all of it disappeared, grandmother’s father bought some piece of land in front of the house.
“The children must always have a place to play in,” he had said and over time the space had turned into a beautiful courtyard with many potted plants and a swing. But there were moments when grandmother stared at the wall in front. We all guessed maybe she was still reminiscing about the open field which once existed.
“Have you noticed the birds?” my cousin asked me once when we had visited grandmother’s house as children
“I have heard them, but they are always hiding in the trees, afraid of people,” I said
“I have seen them in the courtyard,” she said
“When?” I asked
“When grandmother is there, it is as if they come to see her every day”
“I didn’t notice,” I said and truly didn’t, like many other things which I realised much later in life
Later I asked my mother about it, and she said this about my grandmother, “People used to say she was a gifted child. As a child, when she would go running and dancing out there in the open, the birds flying above would tilt and glide trying to match her rhythm.”
When I grew up my mother shared with me the other thoughts she had about grandmother, “If it was not for the norms of the society back then, your grandma could have been more than a housewife, teaching children in school or writing books under a tree”
There was in fact a time when the popular beliefs of the people were indeed given more prominence over the practicality of life. But for me grandmother lived a fulfilling life, yes, she had become restricted in many ways, but she was still free in ways like others, such as grandfather agreeing to shift with her in this house which she loved so dearly.
Grandmother may have not written books or taught children in school, but she certainly loved to narrate stories to the children around. I wonder if in that moment, the children were attracted to her like the birds were.
I never had any love for materialistic things in life, the few things I wanted I bought after I started working. I sometimes feel sad for ever growing out of the sweaters grandmother knitted for me. My mother did offer to get them extended but I refused. I wanted them to be just the way she knitted them with her hands.
However, there are several valuable things she left me with, things that I am good at, I am good at dancing, I am good at cooking, reading has become a lifelong hobby for me, I have several pets at home and I would like to believe I have at least some genes of her in me which makes them happy to be with me, and lastly I have found my open space within my mind in this world which has allowed me to write.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 