In the pursuit of happiness.

Everyday life is transformed into a continual celebration for a person who is always finding joys in the little things of life. Little things like gardening, cooking, reading and gifting.

Ajji would wait all month to get her paycheck, only to spend it all in a few days. Till the time grandpa was working, Ajji had taken it upon herself to indulge her kids in all the good things she could get her hands on. She put in her heart and soul into her work each day but on pay day, it was time to paint the town red.

Being a social worker at a voluntary organization, at times Ajji would receive her salary once in 3 or 4 months. They would get paid when the related government body would get a grant to fund them. Until the time that she was not the sole earning member of the family, she ensured that her paycheck went toward the fun quotient budget of the family. Ajji splurged on all the good things that she could get accustomed to. She was never fond of jewelery or fancy clothing. She would spend on eating out, cooking and sharing with the neighbors, watching movies and buying books.

Ajji loved taking her kids to dine out and watch good movies. She recalls the fun they had when the went to watch Mackenna's gold. The movie was the rage of the times and was a must watch according to the newspapers. Unfortunately, the movie had not hit the talkies in Mysore yet. So much was her enthusiasm to watch it with her family that she took her 3 kids all the way to Bangalore from Mysore just to watch the new movie! At times when she had to get to work and the kids had to be taken out for a fun evening, she would drop them at the cinema hall, buy them food and return after the show to pick them up.

Food Feast

Stating that Ajji despises fast food does not even scratch the surface of her food likes. She has been a foodie probably even before the word was coined. Ajji loves cooking and she has never been accustomed to cooking in moderation. She always cooks like she were cooking at a community kitchen. Her giant heart of gold loves feeding people and continues to do so.

Ajji loves elaborately cooked dishes, regional specialties, something she learnt form a friend or read in a book. It is only the potato wafers and aerated drinks that she against. When it come to home cooked meals, nothing less than pure ghee, butter and refined oil will do.

Ajji also loves eating out. especially Indian food. She loves the baturas , choley and butter naans with paneer and ice cream for dessert. Ajji recounts many times that back in the days ice cream vendors would always serve a sweet biscuit wafer to be eaten after the icecream. The wafer would bring relief to the cold-numb mouth after the ice cream. Unfortunately this is not the norm these days. For the benefit of her health, she has curtailed eating all this now, but given a chance she still has an appetite of a kid in a candy store.

Food first.

My grandmother has an intensely ingrained contempt for Fast-Food and cringes at its very sight or mention.
She can talk for hours about how people today have given up what is wholesome for a quick fix, even as I sit in front of her fantasizing about deep dish pizzas.
While she disagrees with my unhealthy and often unexciting culinary taste, her beginnings in the cooking world were quite stirring.

Being the oldest of the house and attending to work outside home, she had received little knowledge about cooking from her mother. This was before she got married at 13.
In her new home, she was never required to lift a ladle or keep the kettle. Her mother-in-law took care of all the cooking. Her brothers-in-law and her husband in particular ignored most of this cooking and choose to eat out instead.
Astonished at this and armed with a purpose, my she set out to reverse the trend.

Close to the house of a friend that she often visited, was Ram Krishna Asharam. she was well acquainted with the cook there who offered her something to eat whenever she visited. she traded these meals for cooking lessons from the expert.
That's where she started her learning. After perfecting her skill in the ashram's kitchen, she began displaying her new acquired culinary skills at home. Surely enough her husband gave up going to hotels.
" I won his heart with my cooking" she still proudly proclaims with a glint in her eye.

Wedding bells.

sharada at a tender teenage age to Govinda Rao, in 1945. He was a railways employee and a family friend. She consented to the proposal that was kept before her, based solely on a promise made by the groom. No no, not jewelery or real estate but the chance to pursue her studies. She still recounts her thoughts from back then when she had no clue what marriage was and yet got into it willingly only because her husband to be, offered to support her further studies. Such was her dedication towards studies. At a time when SSLC meant 'Stop studying learn cooking' for her friends, she had her mind set on getting a good education and continuing her pursuit of knowledge. Her friends would kindle a joke or two in mirth about being married and yet going to school, but that never stopped her from continuing her studies.

It was in the first year of her marriage that she completed her Class 9. As a young bride, she was very concerned not to let her studies jeopardize her duties at home. She would finish all her homework and studies at college itself, lest her in-laws complain that she was escaping form household duties.

Treading the road less taken.

A brief encounter with her Idol.

As a young girl, all of 5 Sharada encountered a man who mesmerized her with his speech and in conversation, asked her for the pair of bangles she was adorning. When he asked “Maa ko in ki zaroorat hain beta. Kya ye kangan tum desh ke liye de sakti ho? ”, without as much as batting an eyelash, she took those bangles off and handed them to him.

The man she gave her bangles away too was no stranger to her or her family. It was the man whose teachings had inspired her dad and instilled the feeling of selflessness in that little 5 year old. It was the man who later went on to become a Mahatma. It was Gandhiji she met, while he was on tour and was visiting the southern provinces at that time. Sharada's father wanted to give some items to him when he visited mysore, but was touring on business at that time. Her father requested his wife to hand them over in person to Gandhiji and that's when little sharada was taken along to meet Gandhiji.

That incident made Sharada stronger and gave her more conviction for the years soon to come as witnessed him lead India to freedom. she is a witness to a great chapter in our history. She has witnessed what we now have and was once fought for, tooth and nail.
She has modelled her life on his teachings and has passed them on to her children who continue to do the same.

Her Childhood.

Her childhood, punctuated with chores and responsibility of her siblings, was the cornerstone to her hardworking and affable nature. With a penchant for studies, she would look forward to traveling by train everyday from Yellur, where her family resided to her school in Mandya.

One evening, the chat with the teachers after class got prolonged more than expected and unfortunately, she missed her train back home. With no other way out, she started walking along the railway track all by herself. She took off on a brave front, but then started getting the shivers once it began getting dark. There was hardly any light outside the taluk those days. Thankfully, a cart wheel driver passing by recognized her as bambai-sahib’s daughter and offered a ride back to Yellur. She was greeted at home by her dad roaming the streets near the station with his gas light looking for his daughter.

A Humble beginning always leads to an intellectual zenith.

Her unrestricted persona bears deep roots in her upbringing. She was born in Mysore and brought up in a conservative milieu in Yellur, near Mandya, Karnataka.
‘Sharada’ her parents named her and she has remained true to the meaning of her name.
Her dad, was an optician by profession and a staunch follower of Gandhiji in belief. He travelled extensively on business covering the length and breadth of the India then.

Her first family consisted of her Mother who was originally from Andhra, her dad who hailed from saurashtra but left it and moved further south to make a living; a brother and a sister. As the oldest child at home, she had to step up and attend to all the business in the house. She had mails to send, registered posts to receive on her dad’s behalf, cash to send via money order and run errands for her mother. All of this needed to be accomplished on her way to school and back.

She recounts an incident when one of her classmates , tired of seeing her work so hard, wanted to show that doing that sort of work was not all that it was cracked up to be. She thought sending a money order was no big deal, walked up to the post office and nonchalantly, dropped Sharada’s cash along with the money order form into the letter box and assumed that was all! The teachers at school frowned upon that girl, while the others laughed it out.

Having been entrusted with all duties of an office boy, she knew it was no laughing matter. She was familiar with all the post office staff; after all, she paid them a visit every day. Her dad kept an eye on her through his post office friends to ensure she dint go playing around and shirking her responsibilities. Frightened and traumatized by the wrath she would have to put up with if her dad ever came to know of this, she decided she had to fix her friend’s folly. She stayed put that day until the postmaster came and she pleaded with him until he opened the box, reprimanded the little girl and returned the cash - all of ten rupees. Of course, asking that young lady to learn a little something from Sharada.

I call her my friend because there is always an inexplicable bond of friendship between a granddaughter and a grandmother. The fights, the arguments and the funny conversations never cease to amaze me. The way that she grasps the goings on in my life, the way only I (and not even my parents sometimes) can understand few of her musings and the synchrony that we can tune into is completely unique. This is the bond that has provided me with immense learning.

My earliest memories of her are that of her returning form work with a bag full of gifts. Each month like clockwork, she would get me and my sister some new toy in the block, or new clothes. It was a routine she had of never coming home empty handed. Each day there would be some sweets or savories for us in her bag when she returned form work. Me and my childhood playmate Karthik would welcome her at our gate with a salute. It was probably something we had learnt in school and wanted to try out at home.

Speaking of toys, she had her eyes set on getting us a train thingy that went up down zig zag in a fascinating manner. It ran on batteries and had an entire train journey from tunnels to bridges and stations to mountains. I recall it as it was on show at a famous toy store in Mysore back then called ‘Tip-Top’ on Sayaji Rao Road. Somehow we never got around to it. I guess she retired by the time I got that train. Instead, she went on to buy me a bicycle even before i asked for it.

She loves buying stuff for family. she adores it and till today despite all the changes in our lives, that is the one thing she continues to do. As her kids, we enjoy it too! she loves spending to the point that she is often accused of being a spendthrift. She has her little cute idosyncrasies. For instance, I'd never understand the logic behind sorting coins based on their denominations and keeping them in different parts of her little coin purse. She has a fascination for crisp new notes. Sometimes I think she spends money at times just to get rid of the crumpled greasy ones.

But till today she has stayed the same. Her habits may have changed, lifestyle varied but deep down she is still the same person she was when she walked home with gifts for me and neetsy.

Sharada- a symbol of strength and determination.

I now begin to share some endearing stories and learnings that have been passed down to me from my grandmother- Sharada G Shinde. She still continues to do so and I am very grateful for that. In doing this, I am also going to talk about her, her life and the inspiring person she is.

Cheers to ajji!

There is not a single spiritual tangle that the Geetha cannot unravel.
Derive fresh joy and meanings from it each time you read it.
- these are her thoughts on what Mahatma Gandhi had said.

Lessons from my dear friend.

The strength of will power.

If you are having a hot cup of coffee in the open and burn your hands from the heat, there is a high probability that you will drop the damn glass muttering a curse under your breath.

If you are having a cup of hot tea in the most expensive china sitting at marble table over the most exquisite oriental rug, it is highly unlikely that you will drop the glass or mutter under your breath.