Maternal Grandmothers

If you are Indian (more so, if you are a South Indian) the chances that the first grandparent that you have ever seen in your life is your Maternal Grandmother. Thathi, Paati, Ajji, Amamma, these are some of the names that most babies in Tamil Nadu or Kerala or Karnataka use to call their maternal grandmothers. For purposes of this post, I will use the generic term ‘granny’.

 

Grannies, especially the maternal ones are always special to all kids and to the kids’ mothers as well. It probably has to do with the fact that most Indian kids are born in their maternal grandparents’ house. The granny for all practical reasons is probably the first family member (after the mother) who gets to hold the kid, play with it. The granny is the one who teaches the new born mother almost everything about handling the infant. Most new mothers are perturbed by the fact that the infant is so tiny and are literally scared even to hold them in their arms, and grannies play the role of the teacher, guide and mentor to them. They provide the comfort level that no nurse, midwife or anybody else can give to the new mother.

 

To me Ajji (my maternal grandmother) holds and always will hold a really really special place in my heart. While the fact remains that she passed away when I was only around 11-12 yrs old, I still have really wonderful memories of my childhood days with her. While I have pretty much forgotten everything but the really important details about those early days of my life, the fact that Ajji remains etched in my memories, my stories means that she really meant a lot to me. I remember all those afternoon naps, all the ‘Kundaan and Kundee’ stories, her long 9 yard pudavais which both of us used to fold everyday, her multi-colored diabetes and blood pressure pills, the naps on her lap, the memories of getting pinched by her when I was naughty….I could go on and on.

 

Why this sudden post about grannies? Well, my cousin’s maternal grandmother just passed away two days ago, and this brought back a flood of memories to me. She was somebody who treated all of us, not just her grandchildren but all of us cousins included as her own grandchildren. Even upto two months ago when she was part of my cousin’s wedding celebrations, she ensured that all of us had the time of our lives. She was always so warm, so caring, just like all grannies. This post is dedicated to her, Ajji and all the other wonderful grannies out there. They say since God couldn’t be everywhere, He made mothers…I say since mothers can’t do everything, He made grandmothers.