We missed one of our dearest
neighbour come aunts last week. Though being a neighbour our relationships with
her has been kith and kin from a very long time or to say last from our grandmother’s
time period. We moved out of our native area (Adyar) about 10 years back and
being here, now, our relationships haven’t been any different but were a kind
of reconnection (with old neighbours) and looking back into memories. Though
our families know each other well, this particular aunt (whom we called from
childhood as aththai – a Tamil word which refers to sister of father) has been
so affectionate and holds great concern towards our family. Almost our close relatives
know her well and she never failed to enquire me the times I come across her,
and I always see happiness in her face every time she faces me (since we moved
out of the area) but later become very unhappy and she couldn’t hide her dismay
as she was seeing me from the birth – who has been very active quite, my
inability to move around bothered her much.
Their house was in the backstreet
of ours and during the childhood days it was our playground and most of the
evening we are seen roaming around with couple of our best friends, whose house
was also on the same street. Moreover, most of them on the street know us and
our family being a long time resident along with many others, our parent allow
us to play there in belief that we stay safe because of the affinity we got
with coupe of families and the family of this aunt was more attachable. My mom and great grandmother used to exchange
words frequently with her, either she visiting their or they. She’s a hard
working woman and had done milk business and reared cows. Her husband is a car mechanic and owned a garage,
but being addict to alcohol it was she who take care of everything, along
bringing up her 4 children. There was a
great similarity between us (maternal side) who was also involved in milk
business and reared cows, apart running a Tea Shop, my maternal uncle is also a
car mechanic and had a garage adjacent to our home.
Until about 15 years back or her
children settled she continued to be a hard working woman and used to drive
cows for grazing from vegetable shops to open grounds or wherever there is pasture.
Most of their life was spent in thatched roof and her husband and my father
were all grown together in their past and only in latter half (or after 2000)
they transferred to concrete house. It
was happy for us to see them coming up in life and to a stable place and looking
forward to the comfort, but the sad part was they couldn’t lead forward
happily. The rapidly increasing cause among the Indian – Diabetic – struck both
their lives and her husband due to increase consumption of alcohol exposed to kidney
failure and has been living still through dialysis and this too because of her
care taken and restrictions. This hasn’t end there, but herself experience
problem with her body with diabetics being the main culprit and she also lost
her toe in an advanced stage of sugar. And going through number of treatments
and surgery brings drawback in their lives. Even though money becomes a matter
not, she couldn’t live happily. Like they say health is wealth, and however
they become weather with a bad health nothing seems to be cheerful.
The day wake up for us in the
sound of drums and I was sure it was the sound of death but wasn’t anticipated
to be her. Though she was not well enough and was admitted in the ICU at the
same time and hospital where my grandpa was admitted for chest pain and whiz
and she was going through the same problem and was discharged a day ahead to my
grandpa. And she was breathing through the oxygen mask at the home as well and
was suffering so much that she couldn’t explain what. Though she was admitted
to hospital once again for a week before her demise, as her condition becomes
unstable, the doctors couldn’t indentify exactly from what she suffers from and
the diagnosis also fails to understand what make her feel agony. At the
mid-night of Friday she breathed last in the hospital. But the breakaway news –
drum beat – reached us only in the morning and silence is what remains inside.
