Revere

Grandma once told me

that “I love to travel” and

true to what she claimed,

her restless nature and

her idea of making

the most of the days

post her first day of

widowhood (which arrived

sooner than expected),

instead of cocooning

herself in unending layers

of despair-this yearning

to live life to the fullest

is what made me admire her.

  

Mother of five women

and no son, she once

might have cribbed about

her seemingly unfortunate

fate. Yet, choosing to opt

out of such instilled notions

and embracing the fact

that having a boy couldn’t

have refined her motherhood

any further-this courage

to pop the bubble, she

was trapped in and emerge

stronger against the odds

is what made me admire her.

The sweet smelling karuvadam

maav and badushahs that

melt in the mouth are transient

relics of eternal love she has

for her family and for her

 friends too, but then we

get to eat more of the food.

Adept at rummy and bluff,

she is the life of every game of

cards we play and yes, she

doesn’t like to lose-this spirit

of competition and facing

challenges in life with poise

is what made me admire her.

She is my queen of hearts.

Glossary:

karuvadam maav:  Edible dough of flattened rice fryums. Famous in southern India.

badusha: a famous Indian sweet made with all purpose flour and sugar. It is usually made for Diwali.