Every morning Gran rises before
dawn. She readies herself for the impending day – beginning with the chanting
of the prayers loudly. With her back stooped and slow walk - she goes around
the house, handling the small stuff in her reach. By the time, we wake up, she
has already said her prayers and washed her clothes, and had her early morning
breakfast. Then she plans her short trip to the temple. Almost every morning.
She goes out, as I say, on a date with the almighty. Almost every morning.
Sometimes ,the weather and sometimes the troubles that come with the age come
in between and disrupt the pilgrimage. That and sometimes the monkeys.
Yeah! The monkeys – the army of
Lord Hanuman – that sits on guard at almost every parapet of the locality – in search
of food and survival. They look menacing and they act menacingly. They are averse
to flowers blooming in the gardens and clothes drying on the lines. They are
averse to birds making merry and they are averse to kids eating fruits. Why the
other day, they snatched away my share of melons and sat there eating it greedily – enough to drive me crazy. And dare not mess with their members or
kids – the army will have its revenge.
I hear my Gran tapping the stick
loudly against the metal rails of the balcony. The army is spread – invading the
houses and blocking her path. I look out – the loud bang has dispersed them
slightly – at least the smaller ones have run away. She repeats the banging
again and again – till they have all hid themselves from the ominous stick. But
this fear is temporary. Oh! It will not be long before the trouble is back.
Should I call it “A happy start
to the day”?
What a great image! I've never lived anywhere that the wildlife was quite so sassy, but it was fun to picture it.
ReplyDeleteThank you and I do hope you never ever have to live with such a menace.
DeleteLOL! I was picturing this pious grandmother, dressed in black, going to temple. And, then...the monkeys - LOL!
ReplyDeleteI am glad I could bring a smile to your face :)
DeleteGreat word usage. I love the line, "the troubles that come with the age come in between and disrupt the pilgrimage."
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. This is a great encouragement.
DeleteGran sounds feisty! " on a date with the almighty." What a great image! And banging until the monkeys disperse is just hilarious.
ReplyDeleteGood to have you smiling at the scene. And feisty would be the right word I guess.
DeleteI may be sitting in your moderation queue. If so, feel free to ignore duplication. I can never tell, and I'd rather duplicate than fail to comment.
ReplyDeleteI loved Gran! She seemed so feisty with her daily date with the almighty and her banging the metal to scare off the monkeys.
Yes, you were in the moderation queue and even though I could have ignored the duplication, I re-published this, because I forgot to add a thank you for this encouragement in the previous compliment. Thank you Jessie.
DeleteSuch a wonderful story of grandma, not letting even the monkeys stop her pilgrimage. Bless her heart. Perhaps I need to send you some of our firecrackers... LOL... that might stop them for awhile! I cannot imagine the rukus and oneryness...and here all we worry about is the impatient drivers darting in and out of traffic, and frustrating us. I understand the troubles coming with age as well. God has blessed me with good health, but dear Pa Jim has his days being disruppted now and then. Hugs to you and family dear one, keep sharing your beautiful world with your sweet words.
ReplyDeleteHugs.
Thank you so much. I do pray for good health and spirits to both you and Pa Jim. And no exaggeration but firecrackers keep the monkeys away for a few days at max. After that it is back to routine. That was very thoughtful though. Thank you once again for being such a support and showering so much love on me. It is good to be able to share my world with you.
DeleteBlessings and love to you and your family.
Strange, I swear I read this and commented on it a couple days ago, but there wasn't a comment. It's good to have confirmation that I'm losing my mind :)
ReplyDeleteThe monkeys in this story were kind of scary. The fact they ran away and hid, waiting to cause trouble later was ominous. Who knows what kind of damage they'll do.
My heartfelt apologies for the inconvenience caused to you.
DeleteThese monkeys are real scary. yes, they do wait in the side-lanes in order to keep an eye on we people. Sometimes they jump unexpectedly - more so when we are carrying eatables. We and especially kids do fear them.
Thanks for reading this and sharing your thoughts.
You make this scene really easy to picture. The old lady with her cane is perfect. Thanks so much for linking up.
ReplyDelete