‘Inneki chetta Nalayki rendu’ , Amma liked to say often. Literally translated - that means ‘If you die today, it is the 2nd day tomorrow’ . Said another way, it means that the quicksand of time waits for nothing, for no one. Things go on, the rest of the universe continues to do its thing.
In a short 11 hours , Amma went from being the centre of our universe, to nuggets of stories. Her entire life of 71 years and 1 month pushed into an incinerator and emerging after a short 45 minutes as a pile of Ash. Modern Technology has made everything more efficient. ‘She is lucky’ the Vadhyar made it a point to let us know - ‘this incinerator, the trolley are all brand new. ‘
Amma was not neither famous nor wealthy nor powerful, in the popular meanings of those words. All that she offered - to everybody’s life she touched - and there were a few hundred over the course of her lifetime - was an immeasurably vast generous heart. Love devoid of agenda, calculation or expectation of reciprocity. A genuine interest in the affairs of everybody from the trash picker’s, her maids, to her friends children, to her inlaws, her gazillion friends, her students, her sisters who were and still are many bodies, but one heart, her aunts and uncles, her few dozen nieces and nephews, the list goes on...We - have been inundated with stories from so many many people about how she uniquely touched their life.
‘How much time do you spend on the phone, on chatting,’ I used to scold her often. ‘Do something productive with your time.’ Turns out she had it figured out all along.
Those conversations, those memories are all we are left holding. Nothing else she could have done holds any value to all those of us whose lives were made complete because she was in it.
Thank you for all the memories ma.
In a short 11 hours , Amma went from being the centre of our universe, to nuggets of stories. Her entire life of 71 years and 1 month pushed into an incinerator and emerging after a short 45 minutes as a pile of Ash. Modern Technology has made everything more efficient. ‘She is lucky’ the Vadhyar made it a point to let us know - ‘this incinerator, the trolley are all brand new. ‘
Amma was not neither famous nor wealthy nor powerful, in the popular meanings of those words. All that she offered - to everybody’s life she touched - and there were a few hundred over the course of her lifetime - was an immeasurably vast generous heart. Love devoid of agenda, calculation or expectation of reciprocity. A genuine interest in the affairs of everybody from the trash picker’s, her maids, to her friends children, to her inlaws, her gazillion friends, her students, her sisters who were and still are many bodies, but one heart, her aunts and uncles, her few dozen nieces and nephews, the list goes on...We - have been inundated with stories from so many many people about how she uniquely touched their life.
‘How much time do you spend on the phone, on chatting,’ I used to scold her often. ‘Do something productive with your time.’ Turns out she had it figured out all along.
Those conversations, those memories are all we are left holding. Nothing else she could have done holds any value to all those of us whose lives were made complete because she was in it.
Thank you for all the memories ma.
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