A few days back, my old grandpa came all the upstairs to my room and sat down next to me. Still panting for breath, he told me, “I want to die”. I was shocked. Why would he want to die? He had such a good life- just when I was thinking of this, what he told me made me want to roll on the floor laughing. He said, “I lost all my teeth. I can’t chew no more- I can’t eat tasty food no more.”
My 89 year old grandpa is the cutest person on earth! He is the type of person who loves eating- like me and I always wondered why I was such a foodie! Dadu- that’s what I call him- is the type of person who loves it when everyone is around him talking, giving him maximum attention. He asks me everyday where I am headed to- trust me, EVERYDAY, in spite of knowing that I am leaving for work! He is the one who calls me at 5: 30, that’s when I get off work and ask me what I am getting for him. He loves patties. He calls them Vegetable patty from Annapurna! And he asks for it every time- every day.
My elder sister left for UK a year ago and when we talk to her on Skype, Dadu is the first one to shed a tear. He misses her and always complains about how I don’t love him. She always got him patties, cheese, dairy milk, cheese balls and peanuts. While I am the bossy one! Not letting him eat anything that makes his health worse. He was a chain smoker when I was a small girl and it was on my 7th birthday that he had a major heart attack and since then, even though I love him, I am very mean to his eating/ smoking habits! I occasionally find cigarettes under his pillow, in his pockets, and at times, I catch him red handed- smoking and he gets nervous. Well, I am not a monster, but my granddad is scared of me!
On days when either one of my daddy or I am late, he waits for us in the veranda. No matter how late it is, his face lights up with a smile once we are both home and have dinner with us. He loves it when my mother gets an off day from work. Partly because he gets to chat with her but the main reason being she will cook whatever he demands her to. And putting it on his words, “Aja buhari ghar basne, meetho khaja khana paiyo.” it’s amusing how such a small thing makes him happy. But today, something changed in me, I realized something that I should have long time back! I got my Dadu patties from Nanglo bakery and told him I got it from Annapurna and he didn’t believe me! How come he even knows about it? However, seeing him chomp the patties with joy dipping it in his afternoon tea made me smile. And it was then that I realized, I always thought I would be happy with a new mobile set, free gifts, new clothes, and wow, the list would go on forever! But seeing Dadu smile, I was happy.
I miss him!
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