It was just another day in my life as I stood staring out of the window at the children who were being hurried out by their working parents to school, some eating breakfast on the go, some running to catch their cabs to the office and some speeding in their two-wheelers to reach office on time. I call it “the crazy hour’ and can hardly relate to the generation I lived in. In my household, we all used to wake up as early as 5.30 a.m. Thanks to those times when smartphones were not invented, nor any social media handles like Facebook or Instagram were available. We had no mobile phones in our hands to keep tagging or scrolling or checking other people’s life updates all night long to fall asleep very late. Mornings had a very peaceful routine rather than a hurried one running around with breakfast stuffed in mouths. Life seemed simple.
My 10-year-old grandson is stressed that he is not able to win against his mate in a FIFA video game. As an octogenarian, it is hard for me to comprehend to whom he had lost the game to, as I see him toiling alone with a weird-looking device in his hands and a 55-inch monitor he is hooked onto. My 15-year-old granddaughter is continuously worried about her figure and keeps trying different fad diets every week, my son and daughter-in-law are busy all through with office work that never seems to end at 17.00.
Some of my friends often mention that I am lucky as I live with my son and have a family to take care of my needs, as most of them have their sons and daughters living abroad. I am glad that I get to see my grandchildren every day rather than on Skype or Facetime, but I secretly feel jealous because they can instantly connect to their children abroad and talk to them for several hours in a day. I live with my family, but my son and daughter-in-law are so busy throughout the day that they hardly can ask if I m ok before leaving to bed. That’s the only conversation I have with them, and my grandchildren barely acknowledge my presence in this house. Everybody seems so caught up with his or her life.
My loneliness has led me to create some hobbies, like reading books and terrace gardening.
It was a quiet afternoon as I was working in my terrace garden, laying a fresh raised bed of soil for organic onions and carrots when I heard a little commotion in the street outside. I peeped over the edge of the terrace wall to see what the confusion was about and overheard our neighbor saying that the Prime Minister of our country has announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days to avoid the spread of a deadly virus Covid-19 which was declared a pandemic by the WHO. I had been listening to the news about the virus and knew it was deadly, but death wasn’t something that panicked me anymore. I was only worried about my rather young family members who stayed out for the most part of the day.
In the evening, everyone returned sooner than usual, and they had also purchased food stock and groceries that will last at least a fortnight. My grandchildren were at home early, and I heard them telling their parents that their school and tuition centers have been closed for 21 days.
Inspite of all the chaos, I was excited that the family was going to be at home for 21 days without going out. It has been years since anything like this has happened. It seemed like a miracle that God has thrown my way in the last phase of my life.
They all seemed extremely disappointed by this lockdown. In the first few days, I got to witness their sense of denial to accept the fact that they had to stay at home. My son and daughter-in-law were busy doing some environmental setup with cords and plugs to set up a home office. My daughter-in-law was extra stressed as the maid won’t come, and she has to manage office work, housework, and cooking. It’s been a while I cooked for the family as they live on bread, noodles, and Pasta, Pizzas, and restaurant take away orders. So I offered to help with cooking. She seemed a bit relieved when I offered to help.
My granddaughter was very furious that her mom has asked to take up the cleaning work every morning and was worried that she is going to put on weight as her gym was also closed for 21 days. My grandson was arguing with his dad on why he had chosen a poor speed internet choice, as he is not able to play his video games much as it was prolonged since the usage has increased in the house. The sense of resentment and denial lasted for a few more days.
On the next day, to my surprise, my grandson walked into my room. I could hardly recollect when he walked into my room to check on me in the last couple of years. The last time I honestly remember him coming into my room was when his granddad was around. He asked me, “gran, what’s up with you? What are you doing? I said, “nothing much. I am just reading a book”. Do you want something? He said, “Mama is busy in a meeting, but I’m hungry,” Is there something you can whip up for me?” I said, “with pleasure. Let us check what we have”. In the fridge, there were some dried up veggies, which my grandson did not seem to be interested in.
So I asked him to come with me to check if any of my terrace gardening vegetables were ready to harvest. I saw his face light up, and he asked me, "wow, do u have a terrace garden? How come I never knew it?"
I replied, “you’re always busy with your games sitting on the couch, how would you know?” He was excited to see there were some fresh tomatoes, cauliflower, and brinjals all ready for harvest. He picked them for me, and we spent most of the forenoon chatting and cooking in the kitchen. I made some Bhaigan Bhartha (brinjal gravy) and tomato rasam (a south Indian tamarind soup) and cauliflower fry. He went around announcing the menu to the rest of the family, and like hungry bears, they gathered around the dining table to explore the menu. I couldn’t recollect when was the last time the family had actually had lunch sitting together in the dining table. They cherished the food and said that it’s tastier than in the restaurants; they spoke to each other about their lives, shared their frustrations, and shared the food, and enjoyed themselves. The happiest part of this was that I was a part of it, and I felt like a centerpiece when they knew that the vegetables were from my terrace garden. My grandchildren wanted to make a YouTube series (whatever that is!!!) of my native dishes from homegrown vegetables.
My daughter-in-law was happy that she has some support while she is working hard to support my son for financial needs. Its been now 15 days since the lockdown, my family has grown close to me, I’m the first thing they check for in the morning. My grandchildren want to hear gran stories that I thought were going to die with me; they shoot videos about my cooking and terrace gardening. My daughter-in-law shows interest in learning traditional food and bonds with me more. My son secretly shares a smile with me since he knows that his mom is happy now.
These 21 days in my life are the moments that I will cherish forever as it has given me happiness beyond words and a sense of belonging. A family I felt was far apart though living under one roof always worried me and made me wonder if this was how the future families are going to live. But nature is beyond everything, and this, in a way, is definitely a fix for many things that humans were erring beyond repair.
By
Sarwari Venkata
My 10-year-old grandson is stressed that he is not able to win against his mate in a FIFA video game. As an octogenarian, it is hard for me to comprehend to whom he had lost the game to, as I see him toiling alone with a weird-looking device in his hands and a 55-inch monitor he is hooked onto. My 15-year-old granddaughter is continuously worried about her figure and keeps trying different fad diets every week, my son and daughter-in-law are busy all through with office work that never seems to end at 17.00.
Some of my friends often mention that I am lucky as I live with my son and have a family to take care of my needs, as most of them have their sons and daughters living abroad. I am glad that I get to see my grandchildren every day rather than on Skype or Facetime, but I secretly feel jealous because they can instantly connect to their children abroad and talk to them for several hours in a day. I live with my family, but my son and daughter-in-law are so busy throughout the day that they hardly can ask if I m ok before leaving to bed. That’s the only conversation I have with them, and my grandchildren barely acknowledge my presence in this house. Everybody seems so caught up with his or her life.
My loneliness has led me to create some hobbies, like reading books and terrace gardening.
It was a quiet afternoon as I was working in my terrace garden, laying a fresh raised bed of soil for organic onions and carrots when I heard a little commotion in the street outside. I peeped over the edge of the terrace wall to see what the confusion was about and overheard our neighbor saying that the Prime Minister of our country has announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days to avoid the spread of a deadly virus Covid-19 which was declared a pandemic by the WHO. I had been listening to the news about the virus and knew it was deadly, but death wasn’t something that panicked me anymore. I was only worried about my rather young family members who stayed out for the most part of the day.
In the evening, everyone returned sooner than usual, and they had also purchased food stock and groceries that will last at least a fortnight. My grandchildren were at home early, and I heard them telling their parents that their school and tuition centers have been closed for 21 days.
Inspite of all the chaos, I was excited that the family was going to be at home for 21 days without going out. It has been years since anything like this has happened. It seemed like a miracle that God has thrown my way in the last phase of my life.
They all seemed extremely disappointed by this lockdown. In the first few days, I got to witness their sense of denial to accept the fact that they had to stay at home. My son and daughter-in-law were busy doing some environmental setup with cords and plugs to set up a home office. My daughter-in-law was extra stressed as the maid won’t come, and she has to manage office work, housework, and cooking. It’s been a while I cooked for the family as they live on bread, noodles, and Pasta, Pizzas, and restaurant take away orders. So I offered to help with cooking. She seemed a bit relieved when I offered to help.
My granddaughter was very furious that her mom has asked to take up the cleaning work every morning and was worried that she is going to put on weight as her gym was also closed for 21 days. My grandson was arguing with his dad on why he had chosen a poor speed internet choice, as he is not able to play his video games much as it was prolonged since the usage has increased in the house. The sense of resentment and denial lasted for a few more days.
On the next day, to my surprise, my grandson walked into my room. I could hardly recollect when he walked into my room to check on me in the last couple of years. The last time I honestly remember him coming into my room was when his granddad was around. He asked me, “gran, what’s up with you? What are you doing? I said, “nothing much. I am just reading a book”. Do you want something? He said, “Mama is busy in a meeting, but I’m hungry,” Is there something you can whip up for me?” I said, “with pleasure. Let us check what we have”. In the fridge, there were some dried up veggies, which my grandson did not seem to be interested in.
So I asked him to come with me to check if any of my terrace gardening vegetables were ready to harvest. I saw his face light up, and he asked me, "wow, do u have a terrace garden? How come I never knew it?"
I replied, “you’re always busy with your games sitting on the couch, how would you know?” He was excited to see there were some fresh tomatoes, cauliflower, and brinjals all ready for harvest. He picked them for me, and we spent most of the forenoon chatting and cooking in the kitchen. I made some Bhaigan Bhartha (brinjal gravy) and tomato rasam (a south Indian tamarind soup) and cauliflower fry. He went around announcing the menu to the rest of the family, and like hungry bears, they gathered around the dining table to explore the menu. I couldn’t recollect when was the last time the family had actually had lunch sitting together in the dining table. They cherished the food and said that it’s tastier than in the restaurants; they spoke to each other about their lives, shared their frustrations, and shared the food, and enjoyed themselves. The happiest part of this was that I was a part of it, and I felt like a centerpiece when they knew that the vegetables were from my terrace garden. My grandchildren wanted to make a YouTube series (whatever that is!!!) of my native dishes from homegrown vegetables.
My daughter-in-law was happy that she has some support while she is working hard to support my son for financial needs. Its been now 15 days since the lockdown, my family has grown close to me, I’m the first thing they check for in the morning. My grandchildren want to hear gran stories that I thought were going to die with me; they shoot videos about my cooking and terrace gardening. My daughter-in-law shows interest in learning traditional food and bonds with me more. My son secretly shares a smile with me since he knows that his mom is happy now.
These 21 days in my life are the moments that I will cherish forever as it has given me happiness beyond words and a sense of belonging. A family I felt was far apart though living under one roof always worried me and made me wonder if this was how the future families are going to live. But nature is beyond everything, and this, in a way, is definitely a fix for many things that humans were erring beyond repair.
By
Sarwari Venkata
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