My Grandma the Wise One.

My grandma is a great source of delight to me. She has been a constant presence throughout my life. Though a Tamilian, she can converse in various languages like English, Hindi, Kannada and Telugu. She is a mother of four and a grandma to the seven of us. I must say we made sure she had an exciting time taking care of us.

My grandma was very strict in certain ways. The constant lesson that was drilled into my head from my very tender age was to walk with my head bent and not to laugh too much.
She would say “ponnu siricha pochu, pogayelle viricha pochu” literally translated as “a girl smiling is equivalent to spread tobacco leaves” I must say this would often leave me confused and I would run to my mother and pester her to explain to me, what the meaning is? My mother told me that if a girl smiles too often she attracts unwanted attention. And this could lead to all type of problems. (This being unwanted attention from the opposite sex). Another familiar remark during my childhood was “inda vayasile perukaravan kooda manmadana theriyuvan” literally translated as “in this age even a sweeper will look like a prince” this again would lead to all type of arguments. My mom I must say the very epitome of patience would explain in detail to me saying that, when a girl was in her teenage, her eyes are filled with wonder and innocence and she would fail to recognize the reality of life and would instead romanticise everything.

I must say my grandma’s advice has stood me in good stead till date. Her sayings have often puzzled me and more often than not we have had some good natured arguments (I loved to argue with her just for the principle of it, naughty of me I know) till date. Being the first grandchild I hold a special place in her heart as she holds in mine.

hi aqua,

Hmmmm... Grandma's can come out with gems... My paternal grandma was a petite darling...( though my mother says she had been a tough time in the early years of her marriage...) torn between a strong husband and a stubborn son... My maternal grandma was more of a friend...we used to play scrabbles and cards and Monopoly with her... and sing songs... even teach her Malayalam songs... Both are no more... I miss them...

aqua,
you had brought back the memories of my grandma.
I haven't seen by paternal grandma, but came through our relatives that she is a good person.
My maternal grandma is here for all of us---giving advice or suggestions when needed, has knowledge in various fields, she knows, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Malayalam.
she knows slokams and offers various solutions to our problems through that.
She loves reading, a lot.
She sings well too.
She is an encyclopedia--to put it in a nut-shell.

Once she told me that 'Eventhough we are 40 years apart in age, you are my best friend". What more I can ask for!

sriniketan

Hi Aqua,

Glad to read how much you care and revere your g-mom.

Agree with you completely. My maternal g-mom is an amazing woman. She has all the traits of a lady from those ancient days, follows all the traditions of yester yrs, but yet she is a remarkable visionary, has an excellent sense of judgement of the right and wrong and the most superb quality is her understanding and ability to tweak the rules of yesterday to fit in today's situations, wherever reasonable & applicable.

Most of our problems with elderly folks in the family arises due to the 'generation gap', but I can proudly say that my g-mom is a true 'SUPER G-MOM' in this case !!!

Long live G-MOMS !

Originally Posted by twinsmom

hi aqua,

Hmmmm... Grandma's can come out with gems... My paternal grandma was a petite darling...( though my mother says she had been a tough time in the early years of her marriage...) torn between a strong husband and a stubborn son... My maternal grandma was more of a friend...we used to play scrabbles and cards and Monopoly with her... and sing songs... even teach her Malayalam songs... Both are no more... I miss them...

Hi Viju,

Grans can be the most blessed thing that can happen. My gran has often helped me understand things better and has put a proper perspective in my mind. Nice to hear about your grandma too. Remember the happier times.

Love

Priya.

Originally Posted by Sriniketan

aqua,
you had brought back the memories of my grandma.
I haven't seen by paternal grandma, but came through our relatives that she is a good person.
My maternal grandma is here for all of us---giving advice or suggestions when needed, has knowledge in various fields, she knows, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Malayalam.
she knows slokams and offers various solutions to our problems through that.
She loves reading, a lot.
She sings well too.
She is an encyclopedia--to put it in a nut-shell.

Once she told me that 'Eventhough we are 40 years apart in age, you are my best friend". What more I can ask for!

sriniketan

thank you srini,

I must say you have a wonderful grandma, she sounds a really charming person.

Warm wishes,

Aqua.

Originally Posted by Sumeru

Hi Aqua,

Glad to read how much you care and revere your g-mom.

Agree with you completely. My maternal g-mom is an amazing woman. She has all the traits of a lady from those ancient days, follows all the traditions of yester yrs, but yet she is a remarkable visionary, has an excellent sense of judgement of the right and wrong and the most superb quality is her understanding and ability to tweak the rules of yesterday to fit in today's situations, wherever reasonable & applicable.

Most of our problems with elderly folks in the family arises due to the 'generation gap', but I can proudly say that my g-mom is a true 'SUPER G-MOM' in this case !!!

Long live G-MOMS !

Hi sumeru,

Glad to hear about your grandma, you sound very proud of her. thanks for sharing this with me.

Warm wishes,

Aqua.

Dear Priya
Wonderful write up on grandma.............I would love to share mine here
I had a coolest grandma I have ever meet. Even not much educated she was full of knowledge she use to be up to date. She always likes kids enjoying life, get all the knowledge in the world........ sometime we wouldn't know but she would tell us about the lastest things availible in the stores, full of wonderful advises, a aperson never gets bored when in her company she makes us laugh from her stories, jokes, and yes in between would compare them with our life the way we should live, How to be happy, with whatever you have got, etc etc.
Sometimes she would call all the grand children and have a party, doing lot of masti and she too would join us in it. I always like to remember what she tell. one such thing is........ Do what you wish to do but inside your house so that the elders know what you are doing.
I love you Grandma miss you a lot. I know I will never have any person like her in my life.

hi aqua ,
I had been in my grandma's place for 4 yrs as my dad got transferred .

My mother's mother is a friend , guide everything for me.

we used to discuss everything from movies , to college to cooking..............

She is a very good looking, friendly person ,interested in all topics...................

I have taken up everything from her keeping the house spick & span ,very emotional ..........

even today she is very active.........

I remember u grandma. thanks for all that u taught me .........

prabha

Dear Priya,
Thanks for sharing.
ganesh's chitti patti is also interested in all topics.she loves everybody.
even today , she is very active at the age of 86.
mukiyamana shrarta titti (FIL's relation) vanthatuna & some special occasion( god sastha ) paananumnaa , endru ennakku phone panni solluvaal.