My weekly Slice of Life are my letters to my Doddamma. She is my father’s elder brother’s wife. Doddamma literally means ‘elder mother’. She is 88 years old. She cannot hear properly if I telephone to talk to her. So, I have been writing letters to her since October 2017. I enjoy writing letters and she is happy to read them. They are only about the everyday moments in my life. I post my letters to her every week.
2-09-19
Today is Ganesh Chaturthi. This festival is celebrated all over the country. Lord Ganesha is worshipped in different ways. Many keep his idol and offer prayers and in my community people perform ‘homa’. We went to the temple and from there to the Golden Jubilee hall of the Syndicate Bank where the idol of Lord Ganesha is kept and worshipped. I made barley-chana dal payasa (kheer). I made it with milk and for the first time. It tasted good. I usually make payasa with coconut milk. Our neighbours offered puja at their home and their relatives have come for it.
Yesterday morning our Gayatri (daughter), Vinay (son-in-law) and children left for Bangalore, his parents’ place. Their flight as at 9 am. My husband and son went to leave them at the airport. They left at 6. The house felt so empty and we felt a hollowness in the house. We did not know what to do after three weeks of time spent together. Advaith slept only at night and he kept us busy. My husband loved the time reading out to him and they spent a lot of time in the garden. Kavya wanted to do all that her brother did. On the 31st morning Advaith and his grandfather plucked curry leaves and sorted them. Gayatri wanted its powder. She does not get them in Walldorf. Earlier I made chutney powder for her. Advaith helped me then too.
One evening he came with us for a walk to The Syndicate bank training college grounds. His grandfather showed him different types of plants and seeds and even tamarind growing in the tree.
We have ten coconut trees in our garden. Once a year we engage workers to remove the mud around the roots add manure and cover with mud. Advaith was fascinated watching the work.
On the 29th was our 37th wedding anniversary and Vinay’s birthday too. This was the first time we were together. We went to the temple in the evening and I made green gram dal payasa for lunch. On the 28th my mother left for Hyderabad. She lives with my brother and sister-in-law. My sister-in-law’s mother and aunt were going too. The flight was at 2 in the afternoon. We went to the airport to see her off. They were home by 5.30. My mother had a wonderful time with her great grandchildren. They too liked to be with her.
Yesterday it was pouring the whole day. The dark cloudy atmosphere seemed to match our mood 😊. Yesterday evening was cloudy but it was not raining. We went for a walk to EndPoint. On the way it started raining but it was good that we went. Today we are fine and we are settling to our routine. Life goes on.
“The past is always with us, for it feeds the present.”
Ruskin Bond
Mukhamani 
Comments are welcome :)