You have to Let Go!

The New Year is here! It arrives with new hopes and aspirations: mores lessons to be learnt, more goals to be achieved and most importantly, more wonderful moments to be cherished. At least this is what I see it like. But no two years are ever the same except if you are Sachin Tendulkar of the 90s with a purpose of scoring hundreds! So as we enter 2016, I would like to share my experience of the greatest life lessons that 2015 taught me.

I lost my two most prized possessions in the year 2015. My Dada and Maa. In most families, the new born is always attached to his or her Mom & Dad more than anyone else. But my first memories of childhood are always with my Dada (grandfather) and Maa (grandmother). My mother says that I had been sleeping in their room ever since I was 2 months old (My little one follows suit by sleeping in her Dada and Maa’s room!). No year ever passed by when I was not taken for a holiday. No wishes remained unfulfilled. 

My Dada 

A young boy wishes for a cricket bat! And shwish! The very next moment it is there in front of him! Add to this the first bicycle, a gazillion tennis balls, books, cold drinks and any possible thing a little boy could think of: and every single time his wish came true! This is what my Dada could do! He was a magician! 

The ever loving grandfather with silver hair, who would have thought he was once the adventurous young man who could travel the whole of India on his own in his 20s, or drive a fiat like a king to attend his college in Jorhat all the way from Sibsagar, and the craziest of them all: who would have the guts to go to a cremation ground and have a drink with the pyre of a friend just because he has promised him that? He lived his life King size and showed us how to.

It is only because of him that I met my ideal life partner. And I cannot describe the happiness in that face when I told him that I was ready for marriage! This can only be matched when I sent him my first salary. 

He looked as handsome in his Final Sleep as he had been in his prime. A Hero! A Lion! I shall always miss him and no one can fill the void he left us with. But this picture with Jhalak is the way I always want to remember him! Content! And truly purely happy!

My Maa 

How many people can boast of being the story teller of a million stories, of being the best cook of the yummiest dishes, of knowing the most complex “Shlokas” with utmost ease and also being the glue that held a whole family together? Yes. That is what my Maa was capable of. 

The quintessential beauty queen, she knew how to make traditional look classy! And she could have easily given today’s younger lot a run for their money. Her ability to have the perfect witty reply to every question is the sole reason why we have inherited some of it! 

She taught us many things, but the most important lesson would be the lesson of love. Pure, unadulterated love! My wife was lucky to have her as her guide. And she is going to miss her much more than me, I know that! And Jhalak will always be reminded how crazily her great grandmother loved her! 

The Lesson 

I always thought that my life would be turned upside down when I lost Dada. And to lose my Maa within just 10 months of Dada’s passing: it was just unbearable! But very slowly I got the lesson. WE HAVE TO LET GO! At least that is the way they would have wanted it. With their passing, the responsibilities have shifted from one generation to the other. It is a circle of life which we cannot get out of. So we have to accept it. We have to make them proud and make sure the teachings they imparted us with never go in vain. 

They are up there, somewhere, looking at us. I am sure they are at peace! :)