My toughest loss till date.

I was 11 when she started living with us after the loss of her husband. She taught us how to behave, she preached us her divine experiences, she joked with us, she shared her experiences with us and she was always one among us.

I was more associated with her, I feel, than my other two brothers. I was born at her house when she and her husband started spending their life after retirement. So I always have a fascination to her hometown. We all used to go to her house during our festival holidays. Once her husband left her she started spending her rest of her life with us.

She once had taken movie tickets for Chiranjeevi's movie in Vizianagaram for 'Muta Mesthri', when I could not obtain them after standing in the line for some amount of time. I desperately wanted to see the movie and she promised me that she would take me to that movie. She requested the security patron for tickets and the talk of the movie was buzzing with a 'hit'.The security fellow replied, "Why do you have to struggle for a movie at this age". She replied cheekily, "It's not for me but for my grandson who was adamant to see this movie before he goes home". He had no other choice but had to oblige her when he gave us two tickets in the front rows even though the booking counter was closed.

I was even fooled by her on April 1st when I was 19 years old. She used to give her blessings and money to the entire family to buy clothes on festivals. We used to wait for her money even though it was not so huge. She taught us how to get closer to God. She ingrained in us the values of life which would be laid forever strong in us.

"She was called "Peddakka" by her siblings and they used to seek her advice on everything and anything. No one ever had any answer to her. They all knew her words were worth their weight in gold. Everyone has to simply follow her whatever she said because they all know she was less selfish than the ones they had seen".

Her emotional and moral support would be unmatched by anyone. She studied only till 5th class but had a brain of a collector. She did not dare to study further coz she was afraid that she could not read what's written on the board sitting behind in the class. Yet, she was able to recite Sanskrit slokas easily. Her discourses and her standard dialogues are all preserved in our mind. Her unwillingness to accept things that she doesn't know reflects her childish nature. She always tested her English language skills when some told her a number in english.

She used to read few pages of "Ramayan" everyday and used to explain the story whenever we were interested. She advised us not to sit infront of her when was reciting Ramayana coz she used to believe Lord Hanuman would be present whenever someone chants Lord Rama's name. She was a big devotee of Lord Rama and Hanuman.

She used to get easily distracted when someone talks on family affairs even when she was reading Ramayan. Her stingy nature and her liking to preserve used things and polythene bags were special. She started liking sweets even more after she acquired Diabetes.She used to perform some special mantras which were unique to her when someone felt a pain in the neck or in the leg. Her never ending love and affection were matchless.

She lived 18 years with our family and we all are so blessed to spend some part of our life with her. That is why we all are so emotionally attached to her. She was my Grandmother (ammamma) and she breathed her last on Monday, 9th Feb 2009, at 1 pm. She was a Legend. The day she left was an auspicious one called "Maagha Pournima".

I pray that she does not have a re-birth as she wished and may her soul rest in peace.I love my Grandmother a lot and the mere thought that she is not there with us anymore is putting me to tears.