My precious lady

Have you taken anybody as the inspiration in your life? yes..?

 Then have you ever raised this question to yourself, "Why that person inspires me?" Well, probably it would be the answer "That person does what you don't". Most of us admire something, even works hard to achieve it but we get annoyed at some extent and tends to give up on it easily. But those who don't ready to give up to see the core becomes our inspiration.

 Will inspiration to someone make any changes? Definitely yes, we start to feel differently because of their message or actions. It'll bring a drastic change in our life. Here, I'm going to share a true story of a lady, who inspired me and made changes in my life.

The story begins at the late 40's in a small beautiful village.The village stands unique with its own beauty. The greenery of the village looks like a velvet blanket and the sweet chirps of birds add a crown to it.

People in that village were very humble and happy without any worries about their futures. The main resource of that village is the agriculture, most of the families own a field and does agriculture for their living.

Among them, lived a wise rich astrologer with his innocent wife and 5 daughters. People respected him for his authentic knowledge of astrology. Everyone from the surrounding villages and towns used to visit him to set a date for a ceremony or to know about their future. In return, they leave a lot of goods in order to show their respect towards him. He was a well-disciplined man who always cares about his family. He leads a proper life which sets an example to their villagers.

The astrologer loved his daughters so much among them the elder girl was very special to him, he considers her a lucky girl. Compared to her sisters, she was a very kind, innocent and playful with no worries. She had a great time playing with her sister and neighbour kids.

They wandered all around the village, climbing up the mango trees, fishing in the streams, cooking in the backyard garden etc...  she and sister love to make coconut sweet by themselves, they prick a hole in a peeled coconut through that hole they throw in some dal and jaggery after sealing, they carefully place it inside a burning wood stove where they use to cook food for their workers. It burns for the whole day and stays warm still they return from school. They break it open to enjoy the melted creamy mixture inside it. It was the most divine food for them

Her mother was a great cook, who never hesitate to cook delicious meals and snacks for their family all the time. Her mouthwatering fish curry is one of the popular dishes in her neighbourhood, the kind innocent women always shares her food with them.

She was a busy bee who never takes rest, all she knows was her family. she was such a heartwarming person who never expects a return.
The kitchen was her kingdom, mostly filled with heavy weighted golden like brass utensils which lined up in the row was such an eye-catching.

 Her mom used to stock all the groceries throughout the year. Every house has a large barrel called Thombai where they used to store up to 50kgs of rice grains and seal it using a mud mixture. They made a small hole at the bottom of the barrel and take a required quantity then they again seal it, in this way they use it throughout years.

They freshly ground the seeds and extract the oils from coconuts, sesame, groundnuts etc...Her mom used to store these oils in large mud pots and seal it tightly to lock the aroma. Each and every container was fixed firmly to the ground using a mud paste and properly sealed.

 Her houses were a huge traditional one. Each house had a wide verandah out front with a sitting arrangement called Thinnai which roof was supported by the large pillars. Her father uses to relax or spend his time chatting with the neighbours to get away from the heat of the day.

The front doors of the house were her favourite, it was made up of teak wood which was beautifully carved with idols and design. The large trees outside as well as inside the backyard bring healthy breeze all over the house.

Exchanging goods instead of money were also in practice at that time. People sell their goods and get rice, oil or whatever they want. Her mom uses to buy fishes, prawn and other kinds of seafood from fishermen and gave them bags of paddy instead.

Every year in her neighbourhood village, conduct a street drama called Therukoothu, where the artists put makeup, play songs and music by storytelling the epics and mythological stories.The drama starts at 8p.m and held for the whole night.

 Her family usually arrange a bullock cart to go there. There her family were treated so respectfully in spite of her father. Bamboo woven mats were spread on the ground for them to sit and watch the drama. She and her sisters had a lot of fun watching the drama.

A grand ceremony was held every year in a temple called Throwpathi Amman temple which located at the centre of the village. Everybody in their surrounding villages and town considers this temple has a powerful one, so they used to participate in the ceremony without fail.

The celebration held for three days and almost each and every house in that village was filled with their relatives and their waves of laughter. It was one of the happiest moment in her life where she gets a chance to get new clothes, eat varieties of sweets and had a happy time with relatives.

When she was 10, an unexpected thing happened in her life, one of the relatives who used to be nice to her came to that ceremony. He asked her to come and stay with their family for a while, her father refused to send her, but she was so tempted and urge his father,.Having no other choice he allowed her to go with him She happily packed her things and went along with him.

 She was so surprised to see his small hut and a sick wife. And then she realised, She was brought there to do errands for his sick wife. She was so disappointed and scared to see his frowny wife.

His wife didn't treat her well, She made her cook, wash and fetch water from a deep well which is in the outer of the village, she needs to go thrice to fill up a large barrel. After getting all those errands she feeds her a leftover food which was not sufficient for her. Being not used to this kind of food, she starved for days and becomes weak.

 One day, as usual, she went to fetch water in the well since the well is so deep she ought to get down the stairs. Suddenly she becomes dizzy, her heart beats so fast, her eyes become dark, her ears don't hear anything, without the control, her body fell into the well, her hand banged hardly in an iron rod which fixed at the centre of the well.

She started to sink deep down the water. She was half awake, so she managed to reach the surface and hold that rod. She realized that her middle finger broke and bleeding heavily. Hours pass, she had no strength to shout for help or to hold that rod anymore. Fortunately, a man came by that side, hears a mourning deep inside the well, he saw her and called others by shouting.

 Two men jumped into the well and tied her with a rope and pulled her out. They stopped the bleeding by wrapping a wet cloth around her hand and took her to a wealthy women house who owns an ambassador car. The kind lady identifies her as the astrologer's daughter. the lady then analyzes the situation and wrote a letter to her father.

At last, she ended up waking in her home. Her mother was sitting next to her, crying loudly and explaining things overboard to the neighbours gathered at her house. Her home was so noisy but finally, she is at ease. She then realises that her home is the true paradise and not to leave it at any cost. But her fate doesn't leave her, at the age of 14 teens she got married and left her home again.

Her husband was a good-hearted person and also very strict and punctual that she can't able to cope up with him, but he was kind enough to teach her things so that she can slowly able to transform herself from the innocents and adjusted to the new environment.

At the age of 25, she settled with her five beautiful children, two pretty girls and 3 flower boys and lead a happy life. She used to visit her village with her family during holidays. She was very proud to show off her luxury life to people. Women in that village admire her pretty children and her georgette sarees which is popular in those days.

A grand cooking was held in their backyard with many workers, to satisfy the taste buds of their son-in-law. Her mother used to deskin a whole chicken and a lamb. She then marinates them with a spicy handmade chilly masala.

A grand feast with a variety of items was made within a short time. A large banana leaf was spread before them and lined up with varieties of mouthwatering delicious dishes. Her family was treated very respectfully whenever they visit her hometown. But those prestigious happy times doesn't continue in her life for a longer period.

At her age of 30, her husband becomes sick and was hospitalized for months. He was diagnosed with a  minor problem in the stomach, but he died due to infections coz of the careless surgery. She was collapsed due to his sudden death.

The innocent women, who enjoyed all the luxuries in her life suddenly becomes poor, She almost sold everything to pay the hospital bills. She left with nothing and was so scared to face the life with her little children.

She was so confused and depressed that she can't able to stop her tears, she cried for the whole day and night, days passed like this, then one day she noticed her children pale faces, a sharp pain pricked her heart seeing her weak children's faces. then only she realises that she forgot her own children thinking of the ridiculous fate.

 She reminds herself her husband's last words "Take action and get a life". She stood up straight, wipe away all the sorrows and decided to live for her children. Her father supported her family it doubles up her strength.  Meanwhile, her elder son finished his studies.

After her father passed away, her son started to work in a small company, he took the family responsibilities on his shoulders. He worked day and night to marry her two sisters.

 Slowly everybody started to settle, her last son got a job offer in abroad. Her second son-in-law was a great humble person who started to uplift the family. He sent him abroad and take care of the rest like a supporting pillar.

 But her elder daughter marriage was a mess, she chose her daughter a wrong person. As a result of her marriage, she left her two daughters and committed suicide. Once again her family undergoes a deep sorrow. At the age of 50, she stood so boldly to take care of her two granddaughters.

 Bitter things happened again and again to her family, her 2nd son was diagnosed with a blood cancer. After knowing her precious son is counting on his days, how could a mother happen to survive? She feels like standing in a fire every day when her son suffers from his pain.

She prayed God to take her away before his son. After three months of the hell, one morning her son didn't wake up from the bed. She guessed what would have happened, but she doesn't want it to be true, slowly she called his name, shakes his body but he doesn't respond. Yes, that's true, he's gone, grabbing his legs she started crying loudly from the bottom of the heart. She cursed God, no mother should get the punishment to face her child's death.

 Months have been passed, she slowly recovers from her past and tried to sort out things, Meanwhile, she was so worried about her son who gone abroad, there was no news or calls from him that frightens her more. She tried to interact with his colleagues but no use, nobody knows about him. Being a poor mother, she can't able to do anything for her son, but to pray for him day and night having faith to hear his voice.

Her tears burst out while thinking of her son, her food refuse to digest, nights become so long, her eyes turn to red cuz of the sleepless nights. Finally, a letter came to her house, it was from her son. After knowing her son was safe and settled in a nice job, she slept soundly that night. Her son started to grow in his job, even though he faces many difficulties he managed to settle down. He takes care of his mother and his late sister's daughters.

Everything sorted out in place cuz of him.
She's turning 75 now, she's still beautiful even with all the wrinkles in her face and body, her silvery white hair. Yeah! she tries to turn it black but I like her milky white one.

A tribute to my grandma:

This blog is a tribute to my grandma Saraswathy, who is my inspiration. she is such a bold lady who raised me and my sister at her 50's. I was only 3 months old infant and my sister was 10 when she took us.

As a mother, I can able to realise what difficulties she would have gone through to raise an Infant. I'm so thankful to God, that he gave us in the loving hands of her and to this beautiful family. Nothing would be compared to her love and affection towards us. I find this is my only way to repay her kindness.

 I doubted whether everybody indulges this type of love in their life, I'll proudly say, "Without her I'm nothing", I love you, nanny... Love you so much and thank you, forever.

                              You are  "My precious lady".