“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the
living.”
It’s not always easy to see someone leaving you forever and
this is not first time I have felt it. I saw it pretty early at an age of
10 when my grandfather passed away & I couldn’t really understand the
consequences. Slowly the journey of people leaving me kept going on, and I
understood this is something hard but inevitable!
This time I perceived it differently, not because of strong
emotional bond but it kept reverberating to me that a generation has ended - a
generation of my own grandparents has come to closure. Some face it quiet early
in their lives while some don't get it see the affection of the grand
generation ever since birth, and some are very fortunate to have them for long.
With every generation there is an evolution but when one era ends, I find few
things getting lost - their thoughts, their wishes, their secret prayers, their
customs and innumerable other tangible and intangible assets. The next
generation makes an attempt to carry forward the legacy and it is hard to
recognize what we slip out inadvertently. I see them as the protective umbrella
that was shielding us – the umbrella goes away leaving us naked, vulnerable and
exposed.
I now want to talk specifically about my grandparents – they
were conventional, traditional and to some extent, very religious and
custom-bound - nevertheless their horizon of thoughts was never narrow. Even 31
years back when most of India wasn’t delighted with the cry of a new born girl,
they were ecstatic to have a healthy girl child born in their family. Though
this might sound feminist, but this is something I am really feel proud all
through my life - for being born in a family where I was always wanted! They
were always happy with my success & very supportive throughout. I wish
I could have the best of them all, and sometimes I sense that maybe I always
had it secretly. The learning from the bygone generation never fail to make me
content - my Nani (maternal grandmother) taught how I could be large-hearted
and forgive people; my Nana (maternal grandfather) imbibed within me how I can
be hardworking even when success seemed bleak, my Dada (paternal grandfather)
blessed me to dream with a vision and how the path of education can foster you
to achieve your dreams; my Dadi (paternal grandmother) inculcated the thought
of how you can never capture sand with your hand and hence it was important to
let things go at the right time.
I miss them with each passing day as their memories fly in a
flash. I tend to question myself whether I could have talked to them a little
more, learnt hardships of life a little more or told them how important they
were for us. Could I have tried telling them I love you forever and
ever?
In love of my grandparents:
1. Late Sudharshan Kumar Gupta
(Dadaji )
2. Late Vimla Wati Gupta
(Dadiji)
3. Late Sushil Kumar Jain
(Nanaji)
4. Late Sumitra Jain (Naniji)
“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to
create something that will”
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