When Ammoomma (my grand mother) passed away, it was not a surprise to anyone. For the last three months, her body was gradually shutting down various systems and operations. And on the evening of the 5th of June, 2007, it came to a complete halt. She passed away. For us, her grand children, an era ended.
When she was born in 1910, her uncle* was the king. She lived in a societ
y that was a curious mix of conservatism and modern thinking. She played tennis and cards as a child and grew up to be a modern and practical person as someone who was born in that period can be expected to become. Even though born a princess, a period that saw two world wars ensured that many a time, she had to struggle to make ends meet. In spite of all that, it is amazing that she never took money as something she needs to amass. She loved to distribute the money she had, and always wanted more because she could distribute more! A lot many people will miss her because her demise would now stop one channel of their income.
When she was born, her family ruled a country, even though small. Later on, that country became part of the Indian union and she became part of the common masses. She lived through a period that saw radical changes and adapted pretty well to the changing times. There was even an inversion in the social order, but she was never worried about it. She lived by her own rules and was never bothered about how her surroundings changed. She lived in her own world and was content.
I am not able to place which one is my earliest remembrance of her. As a grandson. I enjoyed many special privileges from her, which probably her sons and daughters never got. I was one of her regular travel companions and she took me to many places along with her. We used to travel together in train to chechiyamma's (her eldest daughter) place in Trivandrum when I was too small and she was too old to understand the ways of this changing world. I have caused her innumerable troubles in those journeys, but she continued to take me. She remembered my likes and dislikes and stored things for me. She must have done that for every one of her grand children. She was a perfect grand mother, remembering what we liked and never interfering in what we did.
She was a very organized person in her own ways and lived to a packed schedule till almost four months before her death. She planned for every single hour of the period that she used to be up and about. By nineties, her eyes and ears had failed her, but she continued on and we believed that she would go on past hundred. So it was really unexpected when she became bed-ridden two months back. Her brain started playing tricks with her and gradually she lost her will to live. She moved on.
Even though she has passed away, her undying spirit will continue to be a motivation for her grand children. She was partly responsible for bringing us into this world. She is a part of each one of her grand children and would continue to live through us.
*In 1910, Rajarshi also known as the abdicated highness, was the king of Kochi. Rajarshi was not uncle to ammoomma in a direct sense. The term uncle has been used here only to convey a general relation. Ammoomma probably called Pareekshit Thampuran by the title ammaman even though he was also not her maternal uncle in the direct sense.
When she was born in 1910, her uncle* was the king. She lived in a societ
y that was a curious mix of conservatism and modern thinking. She played tennis and cards as a child and grew up to be a modern and practical person as someone who was born in that period can be expected to become. Even though born a princess, a period that saw two world wars ensured that many a time, she had to struggle to make ends meet. In spite of all that, it is amazing that she never took money as something she needs to amass. She loved to distribute the money she had, and always wanted more because she could distribute more! A lot many people will miss her because her demise would now stop one channel of their income.When she was born, her family ruled a country, even though small. Later on, that country became part of the Indian union and she became part of the common masses. She lived through a period that saw radical changes and adapted pretty well to the changing times. There was even an inversion in the social order, but she was never worried about it. She lived by her own rules and was never bothered about how her surroundings changed. She lived in her own world and was content.
I am not able to place which one is my earliest remembrance of her. As a grandson. I enjoyed many special privileges from her, which probably her sons and daughters never got. I was one of her regular travel companions and she took me to many places along with her. We used to travel together in train to chechiyamma's (her eldest daughter) place in Trivandrum when I was too small and she was too old to understand the ways of this changing world. I have caused her innumerable troubles in those journeys, but she continued to take me. She remembered my likes and dislikes and stored things for me. She must have done that for every one of her grand children. She was a perfect grand mother, remembering what we liked and never interfering in what we did.
She was a very organized person in her own ways and lived to a packed schedule till almost four months before her death. She planned for every single hour of the period that she used to be up and about. By nineties, her eyes and ears had failed her, but she continued on and we believed that she would go on past hundred. So it was really unexpected when she became bed-ridden two months back. Her brain started playing tricks with her and gradually she lost her will to live. She moved on.
Even though she has passed away, her undying spirit will continue to be a motivation for her grand children. She was partly responsible for bringing us into this world. She is a part of each one of her grand children and would continue to live through us.
*In 1910, Rajarshi also known as the abdicated highness, was the king of Kochi. Rajarshi was not uncle to ammoomma in a direct sense. The term uncle has been used here only to convey a general relation. Ammoomma probably called Pareekshit Thampuran by the title ammaman even though he was also not her maternal uncle in the direct sense.
6 comments:
You are right. She remembered all her grandson's/daughter's likes and dislikes! She never worshiped money, will not forget the way she used to throw money to borrowers...
You are absolutely right. She was the perfect grandmother.
You all are right....She was perfect Achamma for me.....I haven't enjoyed much as when when i came to this world she was already in eighties.....anyway i really enjoyed times with my Achammma...
After I posted this piece, many people commented that the usage [quote]When she was born in 1910, her uncle was the king[/quote] is misleading. I used the term uncle only to give a general picture of the relations and did not mean that the then King was uncle to her in the direct sense. I have added a note indicating the same in the original post. Thank you all for all the comments.
Very touching post. I think we have seen the palace of the Varma clan where your ammoomma might have played, if not lived, as a child.
Dilip, Beautiful post about Achamma. Since Vivek and I only got to see her infrequently (on our trips to India every 2 years growing up) we didn't get to enjoy her in the way the rest of you did. That said, we still felt quite attached to her and she always made us feel special during our visits. One thing I always fondly recall is how she would bring out a small portion of thera (sp? -- dried mango) carefully wrapped in paper. This was something because often it was not mango season..but she always remembered to save some for her American grandkids! She is missed by us all.
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