My mother as she sits with her youngest grandchild, my brother's lil baby. Just as she sat with my babies many years ago.
82 years. Lost her father when she was 9. Had to cook and take care of her younger siblings when her mother went out to work menial jobs to feed the family. Never managed to finish her education. Meek and timid, there was never much she allowed herself to do. Like drive a car or get a job. But there was one thing she excelled in - as an A+ homemaker. I grew up wearing her fashionable hand made clothes from her faithful Singer sewing machine. We had the best cuisine straight from her kitchen that beat Michelin restaurants . She taught me how to be classy even if we were poor. And most important to me - she instilled the love of reading by telling me stories as she fed me as a kid. I used to delay eating just to make her repeat the stories. And desperately learnt to read by 6 so i could continue my love affair with books. And I did the same with my daughter.
She was a product of her generation and it was very hard for me to break free from that - she couldnt fathom my ideas of emancipation and independance . Of not subscribing to the norm. But then, she never read the books i read that she bought for me. I have one regret - that I never had enough patience to see she couldn’t help her prejudices and that she couldn’t communicate her love the way I can with my kids. That generation was never allowed to show physical emotions like the way i freely hug and kiss my kids. But she is a remarkable woman and her mother, my grandma, was a remarkable woman like my daughter will be a remarkable woman. When my mom was 7 her male teacher caned her until her body was bruised and swollen with welts. My uneducated grandma grabbed my mom by the hand, spectacularly strode into the school , called the teacher out and told him she'd whack him out of shape if he ever touched my mom again and called him a fool. He was terrified. I think that fire skipped a generation and came double whammy to me. 😆
My mom taught me maths, taught me Tamil, taught me to be a 'good' girl (rolling eyes), (failed to teach me to cook like her though) lol ..... i love her to bits
