Do all oysters contain pearls?
We have shared so many special memories. All those wonderful memories are now flashing in my mind as I remember my grandfather on his death anniversary. He was 101 when he passed away. He would have been 115 if he had lived now. I am dedicating this blog to his great-grandchildren, some of whom had the privilege of seeing him but none of them knew him.
He was born on the 6th of June in 1909 into a farmer’s family. His grandfather was a Peshkar (A clerk who presents cases to a magistrate, or an office assistant, especially in a court of law). He had an elder brother, two elder sisters, one younger brother and a sister. The younger brother was a state-level football player. Now I know why sports runs in our family. He lost his mother and father when he was 14 and 20 years respectively. His younger brother met with an accident while playing and an untimely death at the age of 30. He had lived for ten decades and he had to see at least 10 of his close people ( 4 siblings, my father, his 2 close nephews and 3 close friends) leaving. I was wondering how he recovered from all these difficulties and setbacks in life.
That is when his better half came in 1946 when he got married to his murapennu ( Murappennu is a term in traditional Hindu society in Kerala where there was a right of a young man to marry the daughter of his maternal uncle). At the age of 22, he got a job in the Kerala State Electricity Board and worked till 1965. He used to play badminton and football and most importantly he was a medalist in weightlifting. He used to regularly go to the gymkhana. He was a sports enthusiast and used to watch football and cricket and even if he was enjoying his afternoon siesta, he would check with me on the scores those days when we used to have one-day matches. Then he would start predicting whether India would win or not. The things he did regularly were writing daily activities in his diary till 2003 from I guess 1971, reading newspapers, and magazines and walking. Apart from the same he used to control his diet and was a role model of simple living having Kanji ( rice porridge) in the night every day for decades. After retirement, he wanted to get back to his roots. He went back to agriculture. His life had come full circle. When we are deeply connected to nature and live according to her vagaries, it is enlightenment. I recollect that village and how he used to manage his day with ploughing in the field, exercising and later sunbathing with oil and finally siesta and hearing the Radio. His love for fountain pen and cycle was well known and I guess I got it from him.
But fait accompli, with the untimely death of my father in 1984, he decided to spend the rest of his life with his elder daughter ( my mother) in the city. He was an inspiration for me as he used to sleep in the same room where I used to study. We would discuss some of the topics of electrical engineering as he had learned and applied them on the job. His table and drawer were very organised and I am sure I have imbibed it in my life as well. My grandfather had made himself a grandmaster of patience and discipline. He had parlayed these attributes into great success in both his personal and professional endeavours. I was happy that I could be there for his 100th and 101st birthday. Not many photographs we will have in life with 100 and 101 numbers as candles.
I do at times recollect how he used to praise me in front of people, his laughs and finally his love for some special food which we both had together a few months before he left for his heavenly abode. He was there for our family as a fatherly figure. We hold that in our hearts forever. “The world is your oyster” is an idiom that uses figurative language to convey the idea that someone can do or go anywhere they want in life. It’s often used to encourage someone to make their own choices and live their life as they desire.
For our family in this oyster world, we had a precious pearl!
