My Aunt who we call Poochitta is one of the most determined women I know. She is the 'original' for the daily steps campaign as she not only walks herself but makes her older sister Shreedevi get her steps daily too. She learnt to drive at the age of 63 and she does everything she wants to do even if the path is super difficult.
Her younger son Hari has penned down these answers for me…
Describe some of your earlier memories of your mother and share some anecdotes or stories.
My oldest memory of my mom is (in my mind) this photo - me holding her hand and expecting her to solve all of life's problems. My dad worked in Muscat, as is typical of many families in Kerala. The total number of days I have spent with my dad is probably less than 365 in total in our entire lifetime. My mom took care of everything.
The second memory would be screaming at my mom for spending time at the temple pooja right at the time when I was getting ready for school. This was because I was not organized and expected her to do everything for the young me. The thing is though; she did get up at 4:30 am and prepare everything for me. Yet here I was complaining about something I should have been responsible for - the ruler in the pencil box that I carelessly left somewhere in the house.
Anything she used to do or say that seemed to make sense as you got older.
An advice that took me ages to understand was her belief that meant 'nothing is as bad as you think it might be'. I’m still struggling at 52 to internalize that.
What would you like her to improve?
That is a tough one. The 84-year-old (soon to be 85) is a learning machine. We all put 'perpetual learner' or 'lifelong student' in our Linkedin profiles, but she is the living example of it.
She called me the other day to say that she's managing (as an admin) some 5 Facebook groups with thousands of members each. She reminds me "not everyone can do it". She says she had to write some tests/quizzes to convince the existing admins that she is qualified to take over. She is an "84-year-old social media manager". She is perfect as is!
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You may like this other one I wrote about Subadhra last year
Poochitta - a poem for my aunt's 84th birthday - English with some Malayalam words
Mother's Day family compilation- tribute 1 - Latha on Ammini Warrior
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She's one amazing woman for sure. Blessed to know her.
ReplyDeleteThanks Latha for your wishes and comment 🥰
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