Letter from Home -19 (Slice of Life)

[My mother is with us now. She will be here till September. She was diagnosed Lymphoma in December. Fortunately she has responded well to Chemotherapy and her doctor is satisfied with the results. My mails are to my father’s elder brother’s wife. I call her doddamma which literally means elder mother. She is my favourite relative. From her I have learnt to take life as it comes. She is 87 now and due to her health condition she has not been able to go out from her home for many years. I started writing to her in October. Her son or daughter-in-law read it out to her and she enjoys the photos. The internet has really changed our lives. It has helped us to keep in contact with our friends and relatives.]

28-5-18
Dear Doddamma,
We are all fine here. Amma is fine. Tomorrow is the last day of the Yoga class. She has to continue at home. Dr Annapoorna is Head of the department. She has said that amma can come once a week later. Yesterday night we had very heavy rains with thunder and lightning.

There was wind too because today morning we saw branches of many trees in the campus lying n the ground. We were going to Yoga class. Today also it is very cloudy. Yesterday evening we went for a walk to EndPoint. Amma sat by the side of the football ground where there are seats. We went further to the park at the end and came back.

On the 25th Kuvara went to Maikuri ( where his father and brother live) to attend the naming ceremony function of his cousin’s grand daughter. We call it ‘baarsa’ in Kannada. The baby is officially given her name on that day. This function was held in the hall of Perdala temple. Kuvara came back in the evening.

Doddamma, the land behind our house has been empty for a long time. It was bought by builders. On the 22nd we saw a JCB and lorries driving past our house. It is a sloping land and it is being levelled. Mud is being taken in the lorrys from morning to evening. Apartments are going to be built there. There will be a lot of noise for at least the next three years.

We and our neighbours bought mud from them to put in our garden. One truck-load costs Rs 1000. On Thursday the lorry driver came to unload the mud. Yesterday we could hire some workers to come and put the mud around all the plants. Fortunately we could get that done. With the rains it would have been difficult. According to the weather forecast the monsoon will start next week. Due to the heavy rains yesterday the lorries have not come to take the mud. The JCB is also not there. The land has become like a paste and lorries will get stuck in it. Maybe they will wait for the land to dry.

Today afternoon I went to Asare, the home for the mentally challenged. I go there thrice a week in the afternoon.There is one small boy there, he has autism. His parents live in Australia. They have left him here. He has a twin sister. His caretaker is a of Gayatri’s age. She has two children in primary school. She has studied only till 7th std. So she is determined that her children should get good education. Her husband says the children should go to a government school but she is sending them to an English medium private school. It is very sad but her husband is not supporting her. She is doing her best and I hope her dreams come true. Today evening it was raining so we did not go for a walk.

We are all fine here doddamma. Amma will talk to you tomorrow.
We talk to Gayatri, Advaith and Kavya everyday. Advaith is fine, he is having holidays now. He loves to collect shells and pebbles. He showed me his collection. Gayatri and Vinay read aloud stories to him everyday. He goes swimming and cycling with Vinay. Now there is sunlight till after eight in the night. When I was there in winter it was dark by 5’o clock. Evenings Gayatri takes Advaith and kavya to the park near his school. His friends come there. Kavya is now going forward on her stomach. She loves to play with Advaith and keeps watching him and laughing at his antics.

With love,
Lakshmi

Sri Udaneshwara Temple, Perdala – Official Website of Sri …
perdalatemple.com
Welcome. Perdala Temple, the abode of Lord Udaneshwara swamy along with Lord Kuttichatha(Kukshi Shastara), and Sri Shastara swamy is an ancient and famous shrine of Kasaragd District.