My Granny

Hey,

This time of the year is a very memorable one. It's pretty sad actually, because on this day, we used to celebrate my granny's birthday. We don't know when her real birthday was, the one written in the IC was fake, and she didn't remember hers. So all her daughters used to gather on Mother's Day to celebrate her birthday. Sigh, she's been long gone, left all of us alone, for 7 years now. I will never be able to forget the day of her demise, i don't think i have ever wailed like that in my entire life, the tears just wouldn't stop, and the absolute last look of her before she disappeared into the incinerator. We still remember almost every single day.

We all expected her to last long, i guess, i expected her to last till i had my kids. I think she was the first death i had witnessed when i was older, and able to grasp the idea of death. I don't remember much about my other two grandparents one, i was very little then.

The next few days in school were just so depressing, i couldn't eat, i couldn't sleep, i couldn't stop thinking about her, heck, none of us even wanted to celebrate Vaisakhi. She passed away on April 11, 2001, the following days after that were Vaisakhi celebrations. The next year too, we didn't celebrate it like how we would have.

That's okay though, she's in a better place somewhere. Haha, she still does come visit us sometimes in our dreams, no longer in mine, but still in Gorii's. And we like to believe she went off happily, the last few months of her life were the happiest for her.

If she were still here today, i would have showered her with kisses and hugs, i wasn't very close to her when i was younger, but i did love her, and so did she. She loved everyone single one of us, haha, and when she nagged at us, we didn't see it as nagging, in fact, we loved her nagging at us.

The absolute best thing about her was her cooking, a skill i don't think she passed on to anyone. Haha, her food was just amazing. Another skill she didn't pass on to any of her daughters was plait-making, man, she made the best hair plaits ever! They were so tight, that your head hurt, and they were so high up on your head, but they never ever came loose.
I'll never forget her scent though, she had the scent of an old lady, it's very difficult to describe it.
She always had this small towel hanging over her shoulder, just in case she had to sneeze.
She just loved gardening, and she was so proud of her plants and flowers, she had the best garden in the entire neighbourhood.
Zubeidaa was her most favourite movie, she could watch it again and again every single day.

I can still remember every single little detail about her; how she combed her hair, how long her hair was, her cooking french toasts every single morning, napping in the afternoon while we played, and then watching TV3's news, and watching old hindi movies with her on the television, how she always busied herself with cleaning the house and cooking, haha, and how daring she was, she even carried a parang once. I just adore her.

I would just like her, wherever she is, to know that we still do think about her, alot, and we love her dearly.

Much love, XXX,
.Zephyr