"TWINKLING GRANDMA" by Muktha Radhakrishnan

I was a little bit late from work that day. Lots of pending work was there to be finished. Previous week only I took leave to go to native.

After finishing all the housework, I made Anu to do her homework. Then slowly, I walked to our balcony. I thought of my last trip to native, as usual the pleasant memory of my relatives filled my mind.

I looked up at the sky, lit with twinkling starts. Suddenly I remembered my grandma, my father’s mom, who is in the sick bed. Last time when I met her, she was feeling better.

I stood there looking at the stars for some more time.
Phone rang. It was my sister, Manju. She was sobbing. “Meera, our Muthashi[1]…”.
I couldn’t hear the rest.


When we were little girls, we used to have lot of trips to Kottayam, a famous town in Kerala, where my grandma was living then. As both my mom and dad were working, we were staying with mom’s parents in Alappuzha – another famous town in Kerala. On holidays we used to rush to Kottayam, to spend the time with grandpa, grandma and our cousins.

Grandma used to keep the gate open, from the morning of our arrival, so that even that much delay should not be there for her to meet us….

My father is her eldest son, so naturally she loved us more than anybody else. I remember her giving “kaineettam[2]” to me only for Vishu – a festival celebrated in Kerala during April.

I cherished that one Rupee coin more than anything else. She calls me secretly to a dark room [nilavara] to give that….

She used to do so many rituals like feeding all the ants in the house on a special occasion, by putting sugar, coconut gratings, rice, etc. in a small piece of plantain leaf and then a small lit lamp, on all the four corners of every room. I was her chief assistant in doing that. This is to satisfy all the ants and thus they will spare our food items.
For doing this I had to go to each nook and corner of the house, even unused dark rooms. But I was not at all afraid….

Kottayam is a hilly town. When rain comes, heavy lightning and thunder always accompany it. She used to keep a small wooden stool and a big knife in the open air. According to her those little things will absorb all the evil actions of lightning and thunder!
I was too afraid of thunder. She taught me to recite all the ten synonyms of Arjuna,[3] which will keep away our fear.

I couldn’t attend the funeral and other ceremonies. I was so upset. Thinking all these things, I was watering the plants in my garden. Suddenly I noticed a crow so close to me, drinking the water flowing from the hose. I wondered seeing the crow so close to me, without any fear.
Then it came to my mind that once my father told me that crows are the rebirths of our forefathers!!
Tears rolled down from my eyes….


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[1] Muthashi – Grandma [in Malayalam].
[2] Kaineettam – money given to younger ones by elders.
[3] Arjuna – Third Pandava, a brave character, in Mahabharatha.