85 and Counting!

“Younus”, “Younus” (a bit louder), “Younus” (much louder) wake up”. It was 30 minutes earlier than my regular time. Winters began late this year and during winters I usually wake up a bit late. Halfway asleep “What happened nanaji??”

These days I am staying with my grandfather. It’s voluntary, as he and my grandmother are all by themselves and to avoid any midnight crisis I sleep over at their place. Normally they stay in Bangalore with my uncle however; the winter cold out there doesn’t support them much due to age. It’s good that they are in Mumbai with us for a while. I have had long chats with him before. A few years back before moving to Bangalore, I used to make a point to catch up with him at least once a week to learn nuances of life. He is a person with nang and namoos. He has lived by himself and raised 6 kids. For he has strongly believed in his principles and stood by them till now.

“Can you do me a favor?” he asked. I was puzzled. “Tell me?” I asked. “Drop me to Zakir’s Office today once you are ready to go for work”.

He flew from Bangalore a day before and was already missing the place, I thought. He had all the luxuries he asked for at my uncle’s place, but here it was different. You got to do everything by yourself and life doesn’t remain easy sans the weather. You cannot control that.

“Get your car and we will drive through” he advised. I mumbled “It’s not so easy.”

With age my grandfather is losing on memory. He didn’t recall that he was in Mumbai and wished to go my uncle’s office as a routine thing he does. He keeps forgetting bits of memory and at times cannot connect the dots.

“Be discreet while your drop us there. Take your grandmother along…” he continued.

It was time to break the ice; I believe these are his early days of dementia. There are a lot of examples which I can share, like he forgets what he ate earlier in the day. When asked he would simply give a standard meal (chicken curry, bread and steamed rice) as his reply, but when I cross check with my grandmother it goes totally wrong.

“We are in Mumbai, 1000 Kms away from Bangalore, I believe you forgot. We cannot go by car and if you wish to go back please remember the temperatures are below 10 degrees throughout the day out there.”

“I am sure we can go by other means, train perhaps” he replied.

“It takes 24 hours of journey AND importantly you are here because you cannot resist the cold there. Hope you remember?”

It was already 20 minutes of argument which was going no-where. I knew there are more such discussions coming in future.

“You don’t want me to go to my son’s office. You just don’t want me to go…. You are cruel” he started cursing.

I was helpless there, what could I say. I thought it for a while and replied humbly “If you are so sure to return, let me call uncle and get your flight tickets done. You will reach there before the end of the day and then you can go to his office tomorrow.”

That was magical.

The moment I said ‘let me call uncle and get your flight tickets done’ he started thinking hard. He probably recollected that he asked my uncle to send him to Mumbai as it was chilling there and he wished to be in Mumbai. I have heard that he fought everyday to fly down and 2 days that he is here he wants to go back.

He closed the conversation with a plain “OK, let it be” and I rushed to the washroom to freshen up.

The day was long and boring because of the 30 min early break down. However, I pray that my grandfather spends the rest of his life in peace and his health improves in order that he can stay happy.