Portrait Of A Lady

Yesterday in my dream I saw my late grandmother. Just felt like writing some anecdotes about her. I remember reading Khushwant Singh's story 'Portrait of a Lady' in class XI which was about his grandmother. He had written a very interesting line that to him, his grandmother was always old and the thought of his grandmother being young was unbeleivable. For me and most of us too, it is true. For us our grandparents have always been old. Our grandmother, we used to call her 'Bhabhi'. She was a very strong lady. Having seven children and settling them all by herself without her husband was no easy task. Out of all her grandchildren (excluding bua ke bacche..vo to favourite hote hi hain), she used to like me. Before you scream that I am a boy..No it wasnt that but just that I was obedient to her:) One day my cousin Sumi asked her that who she liked best and she said 'Pangad'. Yeah, she used to call me 'Pangad' instead of Pankaj. Not only my name was distorted but my cousin's too...like Divya was called Diibiiya..Chintu was Tinchu and Yamini was Jamini:P:P She used to say to my Dad, " Pangad ko doctor banayi" as treatment these days is too expensive..but I never wanted to be a doctor:/ She used to smoke 'bidis' and our whole household knew she did that but she used to pretend that we did not know...funny..one day she asked me to get 'Bidi' for her!!! I remember I was in Class IX and was so embarrassed. I went to shopwallah and asked "Bhaiya bidi de do" and that shopkeeper said" Arey! kab se peena start kar di"..lolz How do I tell him that it was not for me and then he said "Kaun si cahaiye?". I said "502 pataka bidi" ( the only bidi brand we all know).. and when my mom came to know of this she scolded me..hehe but when I remember now I find it so funny.She used to call me to help her walk the stairs. She used to speak Multani and sometimes we didn't understand what she spoke and just to say 'Haan, Haan'. She had a powerful voice. The day her brother died she screamend so loudly that people from two blocks away came to ask 'Kya hua mataji ko'. She used to sing a hilarious song in Punjabi in marriages called 'Mainu Gaddhu Deve' meaning 'Get me a groom'. It was seriously very funny. She used to eat everything and was old fashioned in her ideas...can't blame them its generation gap. She was married at the age of nine!!!She used to tell tragic stories about the partition and how she came from Pakistan. Her favourite gali was 'Namurad':P As she came in my dream last night, I just wanted to write something about her. May she rest in peace.