Our maternal grandma
Written from a
great poem in “Nam Nagarathar Group”
By
P.R.Ramachander
( Nagarathar are
great business community of Tamil
Nadu who
are extremely rich and extremely
cultured . Their contribution to Hinduism is unparalleled . Do you know that Ganges
water from Allahabad is taken daily to Kasi Viswanatha Temple for anointing by this community. They also are maintaining
the great Visalakshi temple in
Varanasi. The number of temples they
have got repaired in
India is countless. I have made the poem
a general one , by deleting references to that community
in the original poem.
Please read it
and all of you would start the great contribution that the maternal
grand mother does in each of our lives and we all wish to thank
her again and again.,)
I have several
relations like ,
Aunts, uncles, brothers
, sisters and cousin,
And I have always seen my
maternal grandmother ,
Always obeying
each and every one of them,.
And this is a small effort in eulogizing her by a poem.
When I was spending
my time,
Sleeping in the womb of my mother.
Oh Grandma who with
great care and concern,
Did you not
wait for pregnancy to end.
Oh Grandma who
was greatly supportive,
To my mother to
deliver me out,
Oh Grand ma who
carefully served ,
My mother whose
entire body was paining.
Oh Grandma who cooked food that does not harm,
My mother who
was still not
completly Okay,
Oh Granma , who advised
her how to,
Take care of me with care when I was a little babe,
Oh Grandma of love
and affection,
Who trained my
mother to properly feed,
Me when I
was hungry and crying ,
And made her an expert
in taking care of me.
Oh affectionate
grandmother mine ,
Who used to get jittery
and tense ,
If I cry even
after taking milk thinking,
It may be insect bite
or indigestion or stomach ache.
Oh Grand mother
who told my mother,
Oh Daughter do not
get nervous ,
And do not make a big list of what it could be,
This is the way he would cry for different problems.
Oh Grandmother
who was never
greatly bothered,
Whether I was given birth with love or just like that ,
Or in a way
without any problem whatsoever ,
And would
take care of me with all attention.
Oh Grandma who was
good and well-bred,
Who used to invite
the entire village,
Take them all
inside the home ,
Made me wear
silver anklets and bangles ,
And also made me wear
small golden ring in my fingers,
And used to
become very happy ,
After kissing me
with love and handing me to her daughter .
When my uncles
children ,
Were down on earth
and crying,
Oh Grand mother ,
you used
,
To always keep me on your lap.
You would make me
sleep ,
By singing lullaby , “Oh Gold,
Oh gem , Oh new
diamond ,
Oh garland of flowers
made,
Of golden bells
which is difficult to see,
Oh grandma , you
never used to bother about yourself,
With a firm conviction
that my comfort are much more important.
I have never
forgotten any of my summer holidays,
And I have never spent my vacation without going to Grandma’s
home.
Though you used
to play several times ,
Snake and ladders
and the game of Pallankuzhy,
Seeing the laughing
faces of your grand sons and
daughters,
You would
always get defeated
in those games.
Every day and
every minute you used to got joy,
When you offer several
and several types ,
Of sweets and
savouries that you make
after great toil,
And see us
eating all of them with great glee.
Without ever
forgetting , Oh Grandma ,
You used to tell
us about the greatness and fame of father,
And also tell us
in detail the religious rituals,
That we have to
adopt by telling stories after stories.
When after
spending vacatin with you ,
When we all refuse to go back to our homes,
Hiding great
sorrow in your mind, Oh Grandma,
You used to send
us all back to our mother’s home.
The Sweets like
Manakolam and the unbroken Murukku,
THenkuzhal
and cheedai that you used to send with us ,
Would greatly sweeten our
toungues for a long time.
Right from the time
when we were little ones.
Till we grow
up and till we get married ,
You used to
suffocate us with tonnes of presents.
With out getting any pay and without taking any gifts,
You were
the full time grandma
for us ,
And you used to toil
for the next generation ceaselessly.
With experience as
your only education,
You used to be a
maternity lady doctor,
Then as paediatrician
and expert ,
In bringing up and
nurturing your grand children.
You would
also cook various types of dishes ,
And we have never
seen you taking any rest at any time..
Summarising you
were always much greater
than a robot ,
With one terahertz speed
and several gita bytes
memory ,
And I am seeing
you grandma as a great philanthropist .
