My Grandmother Had A Blog

Smrithi lived with her parents in Bangalore. She loved visiting her maternal Grandmother during vacation. Her Grandmother, Arundhathi lived in Ujire, a small town in Karnataka. She was a lady of knowledge. Whenever Smrithi visited her, she learned many new things. She always admired her Grandmother.

Smrithi was badly waiting to finish off her 12th standard exams so that she can stay with her Grandmother for a long three months. Smrithi wished to become a Journalist. Again, it was her Grandmother who gave her the idea of Journalism.

Arundhathi was a self taught lady. She never went to college. But her keen interest in learning new things from any possible sources made her a role model for the younger generation. She got married and had kids at a very early age. When she was 45, she started writing for the Kannada weekly magazine ‘Tharanga’. As years passed, she got opportunities to write for many other magazines as well as Newspapers. Now she is 75, yet an energetic and enthusiastic lady.

Finally, Smrithi’s exams got over and the very next day, she landed in Ujire. She collected all the latest magazines and started reading her Grandmother’s write ups. “You know Ajji, I was busy with my Board exam preparations and didn’t get time to read any of your latest articles.”

Arundhathi smiled.

Smrithi loved the evenings when she is at Arundhathi’s place. You know why? According to Smrithi, her Grandmother made the best evening snacks of the world. While sipping her tea, she asked “Ajji, how do you have knowledge about so many things? Whatever I learn in my text books, I forget it the very next day.”

“That is because, you learn it for your exams and I learn things for myself.” Replied Arundhathi.

“How do you get fresh ideas to write every now and then? These writing, reading, learning, sometimes it feels very boring. Don’t you feel so? How do you manage to submit your articles on time?” Smrithi shooted her ajji with so many questions.

Arundhathi replied her with a quote from the Disney movie Mary Poppins:

“In every Job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and -Snap- the job’s game.”

“hoo, Ajji you know Mary Poppins and all?” Smrithi was amazed.

Arundhathi smiled. “Smrithi, why don’t you start a Blog? I see many people blogging now a days.”

As usual Smrithi was surprised. “You read stuffs on internet also?”

“Yes, Varun taught me how to use internet recently. I just learned how to search for various topics on Google. I felt happy reading so many good articles on internet. Varun said, they were blogs by various people. I thought of you then. Why don’t you start one?” Arundhathi gave her a new direction.

Smrithi liked the idea of blogging so much. Also she had a lot of time in hand right now. Why not do something creative, right? She was also an enthusiastic girl just like her Grandmother. No body understood this unique relationship between Smrithi and Arundhathi.

“Come let me show you something.” Arundhathi took her to a room where she had all her treasures saved in a huge box. Smrithi was very curious to know what was inside. In fact Arundhathi knew Smrithi was the only person in the entire world who could be interested in her literary treasures. She opened the box.

“I have a huge collection of old things in this box, if you would like to see.” Arundhathi proudly showed her collections to her grand daughter. Smrithi was astonished by seeing literary stuffs that belonged to 50’s. It had magazines, newspaper cuttings, novels and many more. “Wao Ajji, you are amazing. I would like to read all these some day.” said Smrithi.

Meanwhile, a beautiful diary with yellowish pages caught her attention. She opened it. It was Arundhthi’s old diary. “Ajji, can I read this diary? Please….”

That night after everyone slept, Smrithi opened her Grandmother’s diary. A unique experience it was. Not everyone’s Grandmother has a handwritten diary and not everyone gets a chance to read it. She felt blessed.

It was a beautiful diary in which Arundhathi had written about all the interesting events happened during her young age. Smrithi got to read about various Dramas, Yakshaganas and Harikathas that used to happen in Arundhathi’s village. It also had some recipes written here and there. It was Arundhathi’s mother’s recipes. Smrithi felt privileged to learn about her Great Grandmother’s recipes. Altogether she had a feeling of finding some hidden treasures from past. She turned every single page with a smile on her lips.

Smrithi said to herself, “Even in those old days, Ajji managed to document her life so beautifully in a book. It looks to me like my Ajji’s wonderful blog. I will proudly tell to my friends that my Grandmother had a blog back in 40’s.”