Toddler times

There are many incidents that flash upon my mind and keep running like an unending goods train. I'm trying to capture as much as i could from the fast moving train. A glimpse of my toddler times.

Toddler or teen or a young lady, my memories are always roped with Paru. (Those who've read my previous blog would know Paru is my gradmother). I can never think of a single incident devoid of her. Paru could not bear to see me in disappointment at any stage of life. From silly to the most serious incidents she's been by my side motivating me and doing as much as possible to please me.

I was in my second grade, we had done "shanmuga archanai" (prayers to Lord muruga) at the tiruchendhur temple. As part of the prayers they gave me a beautifully decorated floral Vel as tall as me (Vel is Lord muruga's weapon, which he holds in his right arm). It gave me immense joy as a toddler to walk around with it in my hand. It was when a little gal of my age from one of the families that accompanied us to the temple requested for the Vel from me. She told she would hold it for sometime and give it back to me. Naturally I refused, so she grabbed it from me and ran away. I started crying and complained to paru. Instantaneously she figured the gal , spoke to her and almost snatched it from her, saying that I would give it to her after sometime. Although I was happy, I felt sorry for the little gal.

Paru had this habit of getting lottery tickets every month. It was the time when lottery wasn't banned. She would stingyly allocate 1 or 2 rupees for  a lottery ticket per month. That was her budget. I never understood then, why she kept such a narrow budget for the purchase of tickets. She ensured she took me along with her and insisted me to choose the ticket coz I was her lucky charm. She so believed that if I chose the ticket with my hand she would win  the bumper. But that never happened. Everytime I chose a ticket she was sure to win some 10 or 25 rupees max. She would be so overwhelmed and would praise my luck to every friend and neighbour. When I ask her if she won the bumper she would say she narrowly missed it by a number and would say there is always a next time.

We 80s kids had only Doordarshan for entertainment in television then. My sister never needed an alarm to get up by 6.45 a.m on a sunday , since at 7 o clock was her favourite program 'Rangoli'. A show hosted by yesteryear actress hemamalini telecasting old hindi songs. Paru would watch the show along with us. She liked Shammi kapoor (yesteryear hindi actor) and used to get amused along with us when his song was telecasted. But she would smile and say "romba alatal ivan"(meaning a little showoff).

She also watched all hindi serials from reporter, tehkikaat to chithrahaar, turning point and surabhi. Surabhi was program that spoke of the history of india and the tradition followed in various parts of the country. At the end of the show the host gave 3 questions and requested viewers to write the answers in a post card. They gave answers to the questions asked the previous week and chose 3 lucky winners from the huge pile of letters sent by viewers with correct answers. My sister knew answers to most of the questions. Paru would be beaming with pride the moment she answers and would request her to write the answers on a post card and send. "If we are lucky we will win else no problem we have this satisfaction of answering correctly" was her thought. Very rarely did we send written answers on a post card. The next week she used to watch the show awaiting for the nail biting moment of Q&A and thus the lucky winners. We've never been lucky. But still she felt proud and happy for her grandchildren.

Paru was a genius in maths. She could calculate mentally as fast as the calculator. All the fraction calculations she used to do mentally and never used a pen and paper. Be it the grocery bill or the medical bills she would quickly scan through the items and check the total simultaneously. No mistake can go past her eagle eyes. She was really sharp. She  had 100 percent accuracy with no room for errors. So obviously as a toddler I got all the help for maths and all the subjects from Paru. She was kind and attentive and was able to make time for me amidst her schedule.

She gave importance to all my little concerns which she could have easily brushed off quoting me to be a toddler. She never did it. In my third grade paru underwent a major operation in which she donated one of her kidneys to her son(my maternal uncle). I never knew it was such a great sacrifice then. Post operation she reached home and she was wearing a maxi since doctor had asked her to wear only maxi for a few days until the stiches healed. Me ,not knowing the details told her innocently that I would love to see her in saree than maxi. Phew that evening paru had draped saree inspite of caution from mom and aunt. Such was her love for me.

To be continued..