We are surrounded by so many people in our lives. With some, we have lasting relationships while some come and go from our lives very quickly. Each person is different but there are qualities of each one that we can pick and add in our day to day activities. We take the opportunity to tell some people how they inspire us and to the others, it is too late by the time we can tell them because they are no longer around us.
I want to introduce you all to my Chote Dadaji. Chote Dadaji was super jolly and both my grandad’s have different personalities. Chote Dadaji loved to know what each kid was studying, in which field they were working, loved learning new things and trying new experiences. He was very particular about his timings, be it food, exercise or a walk, he was very disciplined. He would take care of his diet since the early days and always follow his restricted diet. Chote Dadaji loved helping people and did a lot of charity work. He would wait for us when we visited Delhi and ask us on how everyone was doing. He cared, loved and with his jubilant aura, he would interact with everyone with a smile on his face and loved playing Ludo. He and my grandad visited the UK before a few years and they had a splendid time. It was always fun to see them tease each other for their smallest habits. They would care about each other like brothers do and when Chote Dadaji wasn’t well, Dadaji immediately knew something was wrong even he wasn’t doing well. After suffering for a few days, he left us on 31st December 2019. We have his learnings and blessings in each step of our journey and his void will never be replaced.
I have been so blessed to have stayed with my grandparents for the longest time. There were times when we got to stay with all three grandparents for months. All kids had to juggle between different rooms to sleep because each one of them would have their own individual rooms. Our grandparents have very interesting preferences and choices in different things even if they were from the same generation. They followed their own routine and eating habits.
Grandparents in the house meant a different kind of order with food, half an hour of Bhajan every evening and if we weren’t seen for an hour or more, they were curious to know where we were. It is super fun to teach grandparents new technologies on their digital phones. Each of my grandparents uses their own WhatsApp and love to stay connected with family members. They have changed so much with time and trying to adapt to new ways. A lot of times, I am guilty of expecting them to change the way they think completely like many of us do, and I can’t even imagine myself in their era. There is so much that can be learned from our grandparents and growing up listening to their experiences, stories come to a few fortunate ones. I consider myself super lucky to be one of them, growing up with both maternal and paternal grandparents.
Paradiso 