We were having lunch. I observed from her face that something was wrong. She politely asked my wife, “Looks like you guys use very little salt and spice”. On September 22nd we had two visitors. It was my wife’s aunt and her niece. They had come by 11.30 AM. It is always refreshing to have elders come home and narrate old stories from the yore. She was very animated and I like her very much, one person who remembers our birthday and calls and wishes us. She is and will be a very special person for our family. The one whom I leaned on to be with me when my wife had to go abroad and I had to take care of our kids- the younger one was just a year old . She was there with us and that was something which we will never forget in our lives. Her husband was another gentleman whom I reckon as a larger-than-life figure who would go to any extent to do something for you. She has also moved out of his shadow into her sphere, and I was very happy to understand her daily lifestyle while we were chatting.
I told my wife there is something special about some people. It generates good vibes and leaves you wanting for more. That is what we felt when they left that evening from our apartment. She had come to see her niece’s new house and it was kind of her to come over and have lunch with us. It was something she volunteered else we were planning to meet her anyway. There are some people with whom I vibe very well and they are few. So when it comes to them, I will prioritise everything and will see if I can be available. That is why I made it a point to take a red-eye flight the previous night. I was feeling fatigued but while I was interacting with her it all faded away. On the dot at 11.30 AM they were there- another discipline I learned that she picked from her father. There are some people whom we will never get a chance to meet in our lives. But others will tell their virtues through stories and we appreciate their well-being and how they have passed it on to the next generation. That was an invaluable lesson and when someone shares that with a sense of gratitude that shows how much they cared.
On the 12th of Oct, I was taking a late evening flight back home, I was reading a book, ” Keep Moving “. I bought the book on the 25th Sept and I was not able to keep this book down. As I was going through the different chapters of the book, it revealed a lot about me and also the influence of elders in my life. I was inspired by the story of an 84-year-old lady in the book who participated in a saree run. It was about her ” it is what it is ” kind of attitude that impressed me. The blog and some of the lines are inspired by the same. Similarly to living curiously, joyously, at the moment is what I learned by being there with my wife’s aunt on that day. I started believing in this credo, “Growing old in the body is inevitable – Growing old in the mind is inexcusable“.
