Story Time with Grandpa

Usually whenever my Grandparents come to visit us, we tend to only play with them or sometimes we go to watch a movie with them. I never really realized that they too have a bunch of mesmerizing stories to share.

I got the idea to interview my grandpa due to a workshop organized by my school in which we were given the assignment to interview the oldest member of our family. So, next Sunday, I sat down with my grandpa and asked him to begin his tales right from his childhood where he lived and what his family did, etc. etc. questions. He answered that he was from Pakistan. This sentence surprised me as I always assumed that he was from our hometown itself. He told me about their family’s shifting due to partition when he was barely 7. The fear and trill experienced by them. They were even looted on the way by native Pakistanis and reached the border without any possessions. On reaching India they were poor and struggled to build up a proper home for themselves. They went through many places before settling up in my city. Here my great grandpa opened a kirana store (grocery store) and my great uncle started to design science charts for big science Company.

My grandpa went to school and had many interesting adventures. He recounts one thrilling adventure relating to him being kidnapped by the goon of the village. The man came to his school one day and took him out of school on the pretext of stating himself as his uncle. He made grandpa sit in front of his bicycle and paddles to the railway station and attempts to board a train but is stopped by my Great Grand Uncle who had smelled some foul play when he saw that man with his nephew. Though the man was sent to jail but the incident scared my grandpa so much that even now he fears about us falling into the same situation.

 Another experience he shares with me is that of the bombing due to war with Pakistan. How they used to sit in their home listening to bombing and seeing the air canons blast at the plane made him think of Diwali crackers with helped him forget his fears. He tells of his youth when he used to escape from home to watch a film with his friends and carelessly enjoy his life. Then how time changed and he grew serious about his work. Always near to his uncle he followed his path in making charts.

I listened to his tales with awe and let myself flow in his words. He lead me back in time when kids played outside and relished finger licking homemade food, where air was clean and the places were green. Where people were a one big family caring for each other unlike today when we even don’t respect our own grandparents.