{This is the 15th post of the series where I will be writing 26 Letters to my Grandchildren about life and lessons during these tricky COVID19 times. Letter1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5, 6 , 7, 8 ,9 , 10 , 11 ,12, 13 and 14 can be found here}
17 April
Vadodara
5:20 a.m.
Hello, my priceless cutie pie
Do you know you are extra special to me? Grandparents have this special something for the grandkids. I can feel it though I am still far away from becoming a grandmom as your dad is still small, yet I have already amassed a lot of stories to narrate to you when you’ll come in this world, my little love.
In my today‘s letter, I want to make a confession to you my child and want you to learn an essential lesson from the mistakes I made. When I was a young kid like you, I was very studious and was always engrossed in my books. My hobbies too were related, I loved creative writing and public speaking and was obsessed with always getting the first position in academics as well as debates and elocutions, basically in everything I participated in. I was ferociously ambitious and focused, though I was not very athletic, I did take part in sports too. When my dad was posted in Tamil Nadu, I learned Bharatnatyam and went to become one of the best students there too.
The laurels kept continuing in the engineering college and I became the first person to be campus placed in Tata Motors from our college, by the time I was twenty-one. Sounds ideal, isn’t it, my child? But it is not and I am not writing to you to brag about the above but to confess that amidst all this I never really paid any attention to learning the basic life skills and basic jobs that help us fend for ourselves in adverse times. My mum insisted that I learn them early but my dad always came to my rescue saying that he will send a servant with me. I was my dad’s princess who took so much pride in my achievements that we together never really thought on my wise mum’s recommendations but the smart lady that she was she kept training me about them in theory if not in practice which I always listened carefully as I was always a good listener.
Until recently I didn’t realize what my mom meant. But this lockdown during #COVID19 brought me this realization that I can’t have house helps and a cook and a maali and am locked in a bungalow in Vadodara where no one has lived for last two years. I lacked basic life skills right from cooking for my family, to fitting the regulator on the LPG cylinder, to sweeping, to mopping, to utensils, to gardening and to what not. I stood there like a big zero as I had never ever cared about these things and was lost in my own creative world. Plus I didn’t know where to get the milk, the groceries and the medicines from as this place was new for us. Honestly, I missed Raju bhaiya, the caretaker of our Delhi home who would do everything so smartly but giving up was not me.
My mum has taught me to divide the work if stuck with too much and so I cleaned this beautiful Duplex we are currently residing in bit by bit and also cooked using YouTube videos. Her advice on problem solving and creative use of available resources worked wonders. I didn’t have many groceries and vegetables in hand so this was yet another challenge but I attempted nothing fancy and only something for your grandpa, dad and me to sustain upon just fine, acting on my mom’s advice. Now I realize she was a real genius and people who say I am her replica are so wrong. She was much more far-sighted and a visionary. I thought I have only inherited her oratory skills but she has embossed in me so much more passively and I am so indebted to her. Today after around one month of these hits and trials, I feel like a pro at these life skills which I considered worthless until some time back and am so proud of it. Making an indigenous mop, conservation of cooking gas, working out of very little resources are trifle things yet so critical when you are stuck on such a situation. It actually is a hell lot of work and I feel more and more grateful to all the women who do it day in and day out, hats off to them!
You won’t believe I have already started teaching these life skills to your dad and want you to learn all these, not just for fun but for that odd day when this independence shall be most crucial to you like when you go to college for higher studies. I know none of us like it but we must know it .
I have also come to realize that doing our work by our own hands is also a matter of self-esteem as we are not dependent on anyone. Isn’t it something nice? Unfortunately in India we have always been so dependent on our house helps and cooks but in the western world, most people very much do it for themselves and that’s how it should be. I have learned this lesson in the #COVID19 times but it is sure gonna stay with me for a long time. I really meant to share it with you.
Happy to tell you that now if I live to meet you, I can cook a lot of special dishes for you, just the way you will love them😊. Yesterday your dad has expressed a desire to learn how to make paranthas, so I am going to ready the raw materials now, will write to you again tomorrow. Do learn the life skills as early as as can, my love.
Sending your way the intellect to know the basics
Your granny
Roma
**************************************************
Hi Everyone, thanks for dropping by, this is my fifth consecutive #BlogchatterA2Z as well as global #AtoZchallenge and this year I will be writing ‘26 letters to my grandaughter’ with a special purpose which shall unfold as you read this series. In case you wish to check out what I wrote in the previous 4 challenges here are the links 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
If you like what I write, you can grab the copies of my four published ebooks here: The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child, Dare to Defy The Destiny and Empowered Women Empower Women
No comments:
Post a Comment