DADU and DIDA---My Maternal Grandparents

"Grandparents are a delightful blend of laughter, caring deeds, wonderful stories and Love" ~author unknown

                                                                                         pic from Desktopnexus

A while back I introduced you to my paternal grandparents and today I want to share about my maternal grandparents. They are no longer here with me but the very little time I had with them is something I will treasure for ever. I love to sit back and think about all the wonderful times I had with them......those memories are so pleasant that no words can describe it...

Firstly let me share with you a few memories I have with my Dadu(grandfather). He was a very talented doctor loved and respected by all. When he treated any poor patient, he would never take money from them. His house would be filled with people anytime of the day , some would come to visit him and other for his help...he would help everyone to the best of his ability and even beyond.

Mamoni(my mom) told me thats as soon as my Dadu saw me just after I was born he named me 'Bulbuli'....and thats what he would call me always...that name for me was very private to him and no one else was allowed to use it :) . As a kid I was a very good gal---never like to eat out, never lie, all the goody things and the one person who did not like all that was my Dadu. He would always say kids are supposed to be mischievous and when with him I was allowed to do anything I wanted ---- neither he nor anyone else could scold me. Visiting them during the holidays was something I always looked forward...they would be so fun filled, he had one reply for everything I said or asked -- YES

I love eating jalebis and I got this habit from him. During my school vacations we always spent it with them, in the evenings he would say everyone that he is going for a walk and would take me along. Our walk would always end in the nearby sweet stall :) , he used to love jalebis and we both would enjoy it to our hearts content . As soon as our jalebi hunt would be over, he would say dont go and tell mom....and I would try my best not to so that next day we can again go for OUR WALK.

Anything that I ever wanted, I would tell him and he would always get it for me no matter what. During the festival times I would be lingering around him coz he would not only give me pocket money but would also take me for sightseeing. I still remember the time when he was very ill there was a fair in the town, as he could not take me he made all the arrangements with the neighbours so that I could go. He gave me money so that I enjoyed myself.....I was so foolish as I didnt realized how ill he was rather I kept on pestering him to come along. And he even tried but his health stopped him.

And to me he was my best Dadu, filled with love and mischief..

Do you wanna see my Dida through my eyes.....its a picture of a lady who was beautiful and loving. She left me last year, and the every thought of not seeing her anymore makes my heart very heavy. She is the only grandparent with whom I have spent a lot of time and she was very dear to me.....and I have always felt the immense love she had for me and everyone. She was a wonderful cook....she would never use extra spices but we would all end up licking our fingers. She was a wonderful person...she was loved by every person who met her even for ones. She was a loving mother and a wonderful mother-in-law, she never distinguished her daughters from her daughter-in-laws, actually she used to care about her daughter-in-laws more.

She was a strong lady, she had been ill since many years but so long as she could she tried to do all her work on her own.....can you believe when she was bed-ridden she was not worried about herself rather she was worried about My youngest Mami(Maternal Uncle's Wife). Dida used to stay with my youngest maternal uncle and aunty---- Kuttimamu and Monima, and when I would be alone with my Dida, she would say that Kuttimamu and Monima are not having a life coz of her---- she was so concerned with everyone. 

I would often ask her to come here with me, she was very excited of this idea...had she been a little better I would have loved to have her here with me.

The biggest regret I will have all my life is that whenever she talked to me she would ask me to visit her. And I had been promising her since 1.5 years that I would visit her soon and she would often say she doesnt wanna leave without seeing me for the last time but I am so unlucky that she actually left me before I could keep my words and met for the last time. I was so lost in my life that I missed the precious person in my life and now I keep regretting and crying but I can never change my mistake.....I am sorry Dida.

I am sure for all of us, our grandparents are the rarest gem that we never wanna let go. I have never been with my paternal grandparents and I do regret it always, but the love that I have got from my maternal grandparents is something I will treasure all my life...... I know they will be with me forever but I miss seeing them around.

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IF ONLY........KAASH..!!!

“If we spend our time with regrets over yesterday, and worries over what might happen tomorrow, we have no today in which to live.”......UNKNOWN AUTHOR.

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According to me.....the most negative phrase in English language is "IF ONLY". All of us face hard times in life and most of us fight our way out of it but are we really able to move ahead? The chains of "IF ONLY"holds us tightly, won’t say it holds us back as after a struggle we all start leading a normal life or at least try to.....but now and then we do sit back and think---IF ONLY THIS HAD NOT HAPPENED!!!!!! I am not saying it’s easy for anyone to let go of the past......but we all try in every possible way to smile thinking about the positivity and learning from the negativity. We do shed a few drops of tears now and then when we think of something very painful.....whatever we do it’s our story and we have all the right; things get worse when another person jumps in and tries to scratch the past wounds till it starts bleeding again. This kind of behavior is want I consider.....'INHUMAN'. 

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People say don’t live in past, live in present and think about future.......but do they really allow a person to move on and think about present and future....... I don’t think so. I agree exceptions are always there but we always meet people who are so inquisitive. It’s not that if someone does not ask we forget about all that we have faced in life, it’s just that when another person talks about it over and over again, the pain never seems to heal and we are again chained up with "IF ONLY". We humans have a very peculiar habit; we see our past mistakes as experiences but that of others as failures and try to keep on reminding them about it; if we could only change this attitude.

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The clutches of "IF ONLY" are so tough that we all fail to break-free from them on our own, but having some wonderful people, both family and friends, around makes the journey easier. It’s not that we won’t meet people who try to push us to darkness but having some understanding people who are ever ready to relief us from these chains makes everything so much bearable.. Thank you GOD for blessing me with such wonderful and understanding people. After all its mistakes that make me feel human and it’s on me to work on them.

“Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.” --  The Duke

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DADU & THAMMA -- My Paternal Grandparents

"Grandparents make the world...a little softer, a little kinder, a little warmer". ---- Author Unknown 

                                                                                         pic from Fine Art America

It will definitely be a shock to my family that I am writing something about my paternal grand-parents, why ? coz I have never seen them. They left us just a year before I was born....can anything be worse than that?! However the picture that my parents and especially my mom has painted about them is so warm and  beautiful that I am missing not being with them.

My dad is generally a quiet person and he talks even less about his parents, we can all understand why  . My dad's story would be about his childhood, it would be about how he was punished by my grand-father for all the wrongs he did and how my sweet, innocent grand-mom would protect him. She would stand by him in all conditions. However my grand-father was very proud of my dad.....not only did my dad finish his engineering but he did it with flying colors. I am very proud of my dad  too.....he has built a beautiful house for my grandparents sadly they could not stay in it for long. Even now my dad looks after his bothers and sisters without expecting or getting anything in return.....surely he must have got all this patience and the sense of responsibility from my grand-parents.My dad had recorded  my grand-father words and when I go home we all sit and hear those words from an utterly handsome grandfather... :)

My mom told me that my grand-father was a tall, handsome and serious person and my grand-mother was a short, a little healthy , very cute and a soft-spoken person....seeing their photos has made it clear that my mom has perfectly described them and also they make a beautiful and sweet couple. Hearing all the stories from my Mom about my Grandparents , I have realized one thing for sure ---- they loved my mom a lot and it was a mutual feeling . Job kept my dad and mom away from home......but my grandparents would write a letter to mom every week with all the big and small stories that happened in the house and even in the town...isn't that so sweet?  My mom has preserved all those letters, now when I go home she would read them to me. 

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The unconditional love that they shared is highly commendable. Seeing their relation has made me question several times over the year that how can any in-law be cruel to their daughter-in law. If any one asks my mom about my grand-parents, she has so many wonderful stories to share and even after so many years, that they have left, still my mom can never stop crying while talking or even thinking about them. During the time when the daughter-in-laws and mother-in-laws seems to be the opposite ends of a river, my mom and her mother-in-law were the best of friends. 

Even though I never been with them in person, but the words from my parents had made me feel their presence at every walk of my life..... I miss not having them with me but I know they are watching over me.... :) 

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THE BEAUTIFUL JOWAI

"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it" -- Confucius

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I wanted to let you know about the small town where I have passed the first few years of my life. Its a place called JOWAI,MEGHALAYA. I have stayed there only till the 1990 yet I still remember the roads from my school "St. Mary Mazzarello High School" to my house. My school was so beautiful and I had some of the most onderful friends and teachers. I remember my Dad taking me to see the Behdiengkhlam festival and also the Bangladesh boarder. Its a beautiful place which most people dont know, so just putting down a few details.

Jowai also known as Jwai is the headquarters of Jaintia Hills district of the state of Meghalaya in India.It is a very scenic place which is located on top of a plateau which is surrounded on three sides by the Myntdu river boredering Bangladesh to the south (about 50 km from the indo-bangla border). Situated at an altitude of 1380 m above sea level.The tribals in that area are called Jaintias and they belongs to the Hynniewtrep branch of the Austric race. As all the tribes of Meghalaya, the jaintias are also matrilineal in character.

The two most important festivals celebrated by the Jaintias are the Behdiengkhlam festival and Laho Dance festival. Behdiengkhlam festival is held generally in the rainy season of July or August. This festival is also regarded as the most colorful festival of the Jaintias. Laho dance is a part of the festivities of Behdiengkhlam festival. Laho is performed for sheer entertainment.

                                                                                         pic from Jaintia.nic

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

• Syndai : It is famous for the caves and caverns which had served as the hiding place during war between Jaintia kings and the foreign tribes. 
• Thadalaskein Lake : One of the very famous lakes of Meghalaya, it is believed to be built by the followers of Sajjar Niangli, who was a general of the Jaintia Kings but had revolted against the king, with bow ends to mark the escape of the whole community from the Jaintia kingdom. 
• Nartlang : The very famous rock structures built in memory of the ancient warriors by Mar Phalungki attract thousands of tourists every year. These monoliths reflect the history of megalithic culture of the people of Hynniewtrep tribe.

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