MY OLD GRANNY

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She had been sitting unwaveringly for the last two hours now. Not a single drop of tear had rolled down her gentle and wrinkled face. The only words she repeated whenever someone would talk to her were, ‘Good for him. Who would look after him if he had been bedridden? I am too old now.’

He was 97, and still took care of his lady, who was in her 80s. She was sick and had aging, fragile bones. He was, though, sturdy enough to hold her hand and walk her inside the house; he had been her delicate buttress-weak physically but morally strong enough to support her. Even though he was sometimes sick, he had never stepped away from performing his domestic duties towards his better half, children, and grandchildren.

She had been away at her daughter’s place for a few days after many years and could not talk to him for the last time. She regretted. But they had been together for 65 years, and now they needed no words to communicate; they just knew each other’s thoughts, and so life went on.

The eldest son came near her, ‘Ma, you need to eat something. Sujata will take you inside. Take some rest.’

‘Na. Na. Let him go to the pyre. I don’t feel remorseful for him. He is liberated now. But am I being selfish to think who will take care of me now? Every morning, he knew it was difficult for me to get out of bed so he would bring a small stool near the bed, and I would put my foot on it. Holding his hand, I would then put my other foot on the ground. He was 97, but was stronger than me.’

The fragrance emitted by the sandalwood incense stick enveloped the air as the old lady spoke to no one but quietly gazed at the open courtyard, where his body was laid out on the bier, enwreathed with flowers and white clothes.

Many years ago, she was a bride to this house, the eldest one. He was a school teacher, and she was just 18. Since then, she had been away from home only on a few occasions. She would take care of his every need, and they were not just a couple but were parents to four children, friends for life, and each other’s confidants.

The unspoken words timidly escaped her eyes and made their way through her crinkled fair cheeks. She wiped them with her bare hands.

‘Ma. You will fall sick. Look at your age. There is no point in following rituals at this time. We are already doing it for you.’

He continued persuading her.

But.

She did not move, nor did she speak, but adamantly continued sitting on the chair till he was gone, forever.

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