Grandparents

Hey there! I’m here after two weeks. A few months ago my grandparents moved in a place in the same building where I live! Since I rarely visited them I thought I should stay at their place, give them some company and get pampered at the same time. No matter how old you get and no matter how many times you request your grandparents to not pamper you anymore, they always see you as a kid. At the end they can’t stand you growing. As I arrived at their place, I sanitized myself and gave my grandmother a big hug. Every time I hug her, she says that her hands have rods inside them since she had a surgery and to be careful with her hands. So I shrink myself by bending down and hug her. Whenever I visit her she makes delicious food for me.

My grandfather and I always discuss about cricket, cricketers and chemistry. Since my grandparents were Chemistry professors they are extremely passionate about the subject. We have a detailed discussion about cricket. He never fails to discuss about his favorite cricketer whom he always admired-Vijay Hazare, a former cricketer and captain of the Indian team. He discussed about the memory of being able to meet him and see him play. He admired his batting style. We chat, eat and have fun all the time. Sometimes I get some snacks from home, walk down the stairs and enjoy it with my grandfather, listening to his experiences about the social work he does for North East students, as a professor or a cricket coach. Maybe they want me to remember that they were also practicing a profession before having white hair and becoming my grandparents. Grandparents for me are always white haired and slow in walking but yet they have this powerful element that motivates them on the inside and always keeps them active. I believe all grandparents love having fun with the child, playing, pulling pranks and talking.

As a young kid of five to eight years. I always thought that a grandparent has such symbols and symptoms that define the brand of a grandparent. The white hair grows with them is the first thing that shows that the person may be an old grandparent. Always pretending to work even after retirement. I always saw both sides of my grandparents reading a newspaper or try solving some interesting puzzles in the newspaper as their leisure time. Every time I saw my grandparents with glasses staring at the newspapers I thought that they still miss their job and pretend to have a job and work by solving puzzles or reading newspapers. So they always do ‘work-like’ activities like reading newspapers, watching the news, calling their friends or relatives. The third thing I see is that whenever a grandparent comes and visits you the environment just changes. The adults are there to pamper the old person and the old person pampers you. Another thing that I see about them is that they act nothing like your parents even though they are parents of your parents. Whenever my grandparents visited me, I felt like I was free and I could do anything that I wanted to do through their permission and that they will never take a no as an answer for you. They will do everything for you, they will take care of you and pamper you even more than your parents. Maybe for your parents you are growing and its their responsibility of not spoiling you but for grandparents – a grandchild is always a grandchild. Finally even though they have a wrinkled skin and a slightly weak body by age, instead of them eating a lot of food, they force you to eat a lot of food and tell you to eat every delicious dish that they make. My maternal grandfather’s fish is the best fish I have eaten and even my mom can’t beat the fish. If I tell my mom that I’m not hungry she doesn’t really react to it. When its any side of my grandparents they will not like a “no” as an answer to food as its their right and pleasure in feeding, pampering and playing with you. My late paternal grandmother always forced me to eat and she had a problem when there was really less food on my plate. She manipulated me to have more food as she said that its my age and I’m too young, so such less food is not good for my body, hence I’m told to have a lot of food and enjoy it too. She would get angry if she heard the word ‘diet’ from anyone. When I used to get back from school, before asking me how am I she asked what I ate. Again no matter how old you get and no matter wherever you are and whatever you are in life, your grandparents will always be your “yes men” and will be the kindest people to you – no one can be more pampered in life by anyone but your grandparents. This one is to all the grandparents out there pampering their grandkids all the time.

I hope you enjoyed this destination and your time travelled to unravel your memories with your grandparents. If so, please let me know in the comments section below and tell me how and what you liked and what are your fondest memories as a child

We’ll travel to our new destination next week very soon

Stay safe 🙂

Yours sincerely

Chinmay