2-01-19
Dear Doddamma,
We wish you all a very happy New Year and seek your blessings. I have not been able to write to you for nearly two weeks. I was very happy to talk to you and learn that you have received the photos I had sent.
We are now having a very quiet time and missing Advaith and Kavya, our grandchildren. Gayatri, Vinay (our daughter and son-in-law) and children reached Germany on the 29th morning. They had a comfortable journey back. Their friend had come to receive them at Frankfurt. It is very cold there now and it is dark by 5 o’clock.
A lot happened in the last two weeks. On the 20th we had been to Maikuri, where my father-in-law (Mava) and brother-in-law live. Mava had not seen Vinay for some years. After breakfast we went to our ancestral house at the other end of the areca garden. This house is almost hundred years old. My husband’s cousins live there. It is a beautiful house.
My Mava and family lived there till 1979 when they moved to the house where he lives now. We asked mava whether he would come with us for a few days. It would be nice with his great grandchildren. He agreed. We had engaged a taxi as ours is a small car. We were back home by dark. Mava was happy to see the activities of Advaith and Kavya.
My parents lived in a small town called Puttur for nearly 30 years. Their house and land is being taken care of by a family.
They have been there for nearly ten years. We had to attend two ‘upanayana’ functions of our cousins’ children in Puttur, on the 24th and 28th. We had planned to stay in my parents’ place, their home is called Shrila.
Gayatri, Vinay and children went to Puttur on the 23rd evening. My elder brother, sister-in-law and Amma reached there earlier in the afternoon. We had to leave Mava in his home on the 24th morning, but there was some problem with the car, we were able to leave only at 9.30. We reached Maikuri at 12.00. There was traffic and we stopped on the way as Mava was feeling tired. We left at 1o’clock and were in Puttur by 2.30. The function was over and lunch was going on. We joined them.
Amma, Gayatri and others went back to Shrila. We stayed behind talking to our relatives who were still there. We went to Shrila at 4.30.
There is a lot more to write Doddamma. I will continue in my next letter.
With lots of love,
Lakshmi
(My letters to my Doddamma, my father’s elder brother’s wife, have made letter writing a part of my life again. Both of us enjoy the letters. Doddamma literally means elder mother. She is my favourite relative. She is 88. She cannot go out and is not able to hear well. So, I started writing to her in November 2017. Earlier I used to send a mail to her daughter-in-law, she used to read it to her. My cousin’s wife told me Doddamma enjoys the feel of letters and re-reads them often. I edit the letters and post them in Slice of Life hosted by Two Teachers. I enjoy SOL. We, bloggers live in different parts of the world. Our lives are so different but there is sameness which is fascinating. The different posts and photos bring the world to my home. Thank you dear friends. 😊 )
Upanayana – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanayana
Letter from Home- 1 (Slice of Life)
