Goodness gracious grandma

My ajji was a wise soul and a kind one too. She faced hardship — being pushed into situations an ordinary being in her 30s would have easily trembled under — only to emerge out stronger. And the defining feature about her was she could forgive. Holding grudge wasn’t her thing. For some weird reasons, she found gossiping a wastage of time as well as energy. And we are talking about an era devoid of entertainment. There was no TV or radio. People gossiped. People still gossip. Some things don’t change. She had better things to do with her time, like raising five kids on her own. She just didn’t find talking about people behind their back amusing. She’d politely excuse herself from conversations that parasited on pulling others down without giving them a chance to explain themselves. Maybe she could be the bigger person because she didn’t feel the need to be part of the club. Many a times, we find ourselves doing stuff just because of peer pressure. She was happy being this person who understood what we really do when we backbite. Despite having little formal education against her name, she fully gauged the weakness people exhibit when they feel strong about an opinion. That was my grandma there! I don’t think i can ever be proud of anybody else like the way i am about her. Not even my adorable dad or inspiration ma. In my lifetime, i haven’t met a person who’d say a word against my ajji. Not because she is dead and gone but because it’s difficult to badmouth breeze that brought you nothing but joy. She used to tell my ma when she was young that the most important thing in this world is to become a good person. And the second most important thing is to remind oneself that becoming a good person is not enough. To believe that you can be a better person is.