A chance meeting in the lift – we wont dwell too much on that though – my virgin encounter with Latha & Ajit: She suspiciously received my over-the-top-cheery greeting & treated me to a look which made me feel like a bad smell under her nose! Then there was Aji, all elegantly suited & booted, valiantly trying to compensate for his wife’s indifference with some polite chatter
From then, fast forwarding to the present, we have come a long way! I hopefully graduated from a stink to a bearable odor for Latha!! While I am thrilled to count her & Aji as some of our closest friends, another reason that makes this relationship special & life-changing is the fact that it led me to “Amma” – Aji’s mom & Latha’s grandma cum mom-in-law!
No clichés here – I mean only a person like her would make it possible for me to describe an 86 year old as one heck of a cool babe!
Some snapshots of our encounters:
*My fourteen going on forty yr old daughter & Amma animatedly watching “American Idol” – this was one household, that despite the fact that there were no kids her age to interact with, Shiksha willingly visited – I mean, there was “Paati”!!!
*The walls of their elegant house, dotted with spectacular embroidered pictures done so elegantly by this eighty plus super-girl, while yours truly, at half that age, struggles to thread a needle!
*She could give any Public Relations person a run for their money – never failed to connect with a call or a visit. My cynical dad and mom were floored by the fact that she took the trouble to come home & see me in Chennai. She charmed the pants (dhoti actually!) off my father & had him eating out of her hands. Thanx to her, I got some brownie points of approval from daddy dearest, who was impressed by the fact that a nikamma like me had managed to find such a dost!
*In Ashok, she found a doting fan, because Amma knew her music – the mark of greatness – ability to appreciate all genres of music with no blocks or mind barriers.
*I tear up when I recall the last time she came to our place in Abu Dhabi – with child-like enthusiasm, she attacked a bowl of curd rice sprinkled with her favorite – ‘ spicy moru molaga’!
*When I saw Zohra Sehgal in “Cheeni Kum”, she reminded me so much of Amma! She was always egging Latha to work out at the gym & kept abreast of all the possible tv shows!
*I fondly remember bumping into the trio of Amma, Latha & Ajit at the car park of our bldg in Dubai . They would be excitedly trotting off to watch some movie or the other! Amma even once remarked that my outfit (my first patiala salwaar which in retrospect made me look horrendous!) was similar to what Preity Zinta had worn in “Veer Zara”! How on earth did she recognize that I had diligently tried to copy the dress, not realizing that ‘clothes don’t maketh a man’ – in case that’s not a legitimate saying, let me clarify that I just made it up!!
*She like me, had been a fan of Kamalhasan, only to be horrified by his later movies & phoney accent! Together we mourned the loss of the Kamal we loved, & bitched about him the way he is today – apologies to all die-hard Kamal fans!
For me, Amma was the epitome of ‘sugar & spice, & everything nice!’
I refuse to grieve her passing away. Instead I celebrate this woman of substance. I count her as one of life’s blessings. If I can lead half the life she led, it will be a zindagi well spent! Amma Tujhe Salaam!
From then, fast forwarding to the present, we have come a long way! I hopefully graduated from a stink to a bearable odor for Latha!! While I am thrilled to count her & Aji as some of our closest friends, another reason that makes this relationship special & life-changing is the fact that it led me to “Amma” – Aji’s mom & Latha’s grandma cum mom-in-law!
No clichés here – I mean only a person like her would make it possible for me to describe an 86 year old as one heck of a cool babe!
Some snapshots of our encounters:
*My fourteen going on forty yr old daughter & Amma animatedly watching “American Idol” – this was one household, that despite the fact that there were no kids her age to interact with, Shiksha willingly visited – I mean, there was “Paati”!!!
*The walls of their elegant house, dotted with spectacular embroidered pictures done so elegantly by this eighty plus super-girl, while yours truly, at half that age, struggles to thread a needle!
*She could give any Public Relations person a run for their money – never failed to connect with a call or a visit. My cynical dad and mom were floored by the fact that she took the trouble to come home & see me in Chennai. She charmed the pants (dhoti actually!) off my father & had him eating out of her hands. Thanx to her, I got some brownie points of approval from daddy dearest, who was impressed by the fact that a nikamma like me had managed to find such a dost!
*In Ashok, she found a doting fan, because Amma knew her music – the mark of greatness – ability to appreciate all genres of music with no blocks or mind barriers.
*I tear up when I recall the last time she came to our place in Abu Dhabi – with child-like enthusiasm, she attacked a bowl of curd rice sprinkled with her favorite – ‘ spicy moru molaga’!
*When I saw Zohra Sehgal in “Cheeni Kum”, she reminded me so much of Amma! She was always egging Latha to work out at the gym & kept abreast of all the possible tv shows!
*I fondly remember bumping into the trio of Amma, Latha & Ajit at the car park of our bldg in Dubai . They would be excitedly trotting off to watch some movie or the other! Amma even once remarked that my outfit (my first patiala salwaar which in retrospect made me look horrendous!) was similar to what Preity Zinta had worn in “Veer Zara”! How on earth did she recognize that I had diligently tried to copy the dress, not realizing that ‘clothes don’t maketh a man’ – in case that’s not a legitimate saying, let me clarify that I just made it up!!
*She like me, had been a fan of Kamalhasan, only to be horrified by his later movies & phoney accent! Together we mourned the loss of the Kamal we loved, & bitched about him the way he is today – apologies to all die-hard Kamal fans!
For me, Amma was the epitome of ‘sugar & spice, & everything nice!’
I refuse to grieve her passing away. Instead I celebrate this woman of substance. I count her as one of life’s blessings. If I can lead half the life she led, it will be a zindagi well spent! Amma Tujhe Salaam!
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