The Memoirs of an Eighty year Old- Episode XIV

Episode - The Wedding

Part II

Hello readers.. I am back with the part II of the wedding of our dear grandparents. For those who missed here is the link to the first part. 

https://sri-lovenature.blogspot.in/2017/03/the-memoirs-of-eighty-year-old-episode_27.html

After the marriage ceremony they were taken around the temple in a car will full band baaja baraat. The car was the official vehicle of grandma's father and was rented for this wedding. Cars were rare back then and only the higher officials could use them.

The visit to the temple as a newlywed couple was also uncomplicated. There was hardly any rush. People were not mad about visiting temples though they were definitely more God-fearing, grandma said. I suddenly asked if they spoke to each other and grandpa said laughing, "Yes we spoke." Pat came grandma's reply. "He's joking. We did not speak to each other. We had his and my mother as chaperones through out. Anyway it wouldn't have made a difference as we did not know what to say to each other. You have to understand that our brought up was way different from your generation. Also we were married young and the expectations were different." True that.

"So next did you go back to your own home as grandpa was still studying?" I asked grandma. They traveled first back to grandpa's village and was carried in a 'Pallaki' a king of palanquin in which the person sits in a small house shaped box. "I was stick thin and so was he. It looked like two sticks were married." grandma said laughing, remembering the good old days. Later after a week or so grandpa went back to college and grandma to her maternal home. She would visit his village once a while for festivals and stay a week or so. "So that I could learn their procedures and living habits." grandma explained.

"So when did you both start living together?" I asked. "When I got a good job in Hyderabad." grandpa said. That story is for the next episode. It includes the three or so years after the wedding.

See you soon, readers. Be happy, Be kind.. 

The Memoirs of an Eighty year Old- Episode XIII

Episode - Surprise Gift

Hii peeps.. I know you are waiting and expecting this post to be the second part of the wedding post. But you will just have to wait a teeny bit longer for that. Grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday recently and being an audience of a small part of it made me want to write about it.
 
So firstly, Belated Happy Birthday Gramps.. You are now officially 80 years young.. 

Being in my twenties I cannot even imagine what it feels to experience various emotions and adventures for eight decades of one's life. All I know is that it's definitely not easy. Kudos to you grandpa. You aced it, in my opinion.

Right, so I go to wish him and find the house filled with people. It was a surprise for him to have most of loved ones around him and trust me he literally glowed. Grandma was equally elated.

Now I want to tell you readers about the special gift he received from them. A scrapbook with handwritten messages from every family member and few of the various pictures they took. I sat and read the entire scrapbook mainly because I wanted to write about it. ☺


But going through it made me realize the extent of the love and respect they have for him. It has no bounds. Be it a two line message or a forty lines one the emotion remained the same throughout. 

Hatsoff to the sister-brother duo, (Ap, An) for working on it, in secret.  The messages were beautiful to read. One or two especially tugged at my heart, though I am not revealing which. ☺

I only pray to God to give grandpa and grandma good health for many many years to come so that they can continue to enjoy the love of their family.. ☺


The next episode is definitely the second part of their wedding..  Till then, be happy, be good... 

The Owl

It was a foggy night,
the moon hid behind the clouds.
From the balcony of my room,
as I stood enjoying the breeze,
a vague form caught my eye.

What could it be! I wondered
when a sudden cry startled me.
The wind blew as I watched,
to reveal a dead tree, on which
sat an owl, staring back at me.

I stared back, unblinking
but the owl won the game.
It smiled at me! I won,
it seemed to say to me.
The white owl on the dead tree.


Painting : Mrs. Ratna Pochiraju