Udgitha was reading a book when a creaking sound from the direction of the veranda caught her attention. She went out and saw aachi (grandma) rocking in her chair. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were resting on her belly in a clasp.
It was a bright afternoon and with college admissions yet to start, Udgitha didn’t have much to do than to spend her time either reading or helping her mother in the kitchen. Nevertheless, the family was extremely happy that their daughter had been selected for admission into an engineering course of her choice.
As she turned around, she heard aachi saying, “Ask Sekharan to come and see me once he is back from work.”
“Sure,” she replied with a smile.
Udgitha’s father Sekharan was a workman in a local factory. He was liked by many of his co-workers for being an upright and a kind-hearted person. Despite his modest earning Sekharan never compromised with his daughter’s education.
It was late in the evening that Sekharan arrived home.
“Appa, aachi wants to see you,” said Udgitha.
Sekharan nodded and went to the washroom. Udgitha’s mother, Nirmala, came out of the kitchen and poured some warm coffee into a tumbler for her husband. Meanwhile, aachi was in her bed, flipping through the pages of an old photo-album. On seeing Sekharan she took off her eyeglasses and gestured him to sit beside her. Sekharan sat down quietly.
“What have you decided?” she gently asked.
“I have decided to apply for a loan against this house,” said Sekharan.
“Are you sure?” she asked, looking straight into his eyes.
“Yes amma, I will do whatever it takes to give my daughter a secured future,” Sekharan replied. Aachi said nothing more; she put back on her glasses and started looking into the album.
Later during dinner Nirmala noticed something very unusual in Udgitha. She was inattentive and seemed completely lost.
“What’s the matter with you? Is everything alright?” Nirmala asked her. Udgitha kept quiet. Sekharan looked anxiously at Nirmala and then turned towards Udgitha.
“Is there something that’s really troubling you?” he asked. Udgitha looked at Sekharan and said “Appa, I heard everything. It would be easy on all of us if I attend a general degree college.” Sekharan was taken aback. He firmly held on to his daughter’s hand and said, “No matter what it takes, as long as I am alive, I will never let you lose your dreams.” Nirmala had tears swelling up her eyes.
Next morning as Sekharan was leaving for work; aachi came and stood beside him. “Can you come home a little early this evening?” she asked. “My brother Murugan wants to visit us today,” she said. Sekharan was surprised.
“I will definitely try,” he said.
That evening as Sekharan was parking his moped in front of his house he could hear sounds of laughter coming from inside. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. It was Udgitha as usual who opened the door.
“Look who has come,” she said, pointing at granduncle Murugan. Sekharan on seeing him moved forward and bent down to touch his feet. Murugan caught hold of Sekharan by his arms and tightly hugged him. The entire family sat together and chatted for a long time.
At night as Nirmala was serving dinner, Murugan looked at her and said, “You remind me of my mother, she used to take such good care of us.” Nirmala felt shy.
After dinner aachi asked everyone to come to her room. After everybody had gathered, she smiled at Murugan and said, “I think you should by now tell them what you are really here for.”
Murugan explained how a long time back an ancestral land was divided between him and aachi and how aachi, till recently, had kept it under his custody. But since she urgently required money, she had decided to sell the land to him. He had come to get her signature and hand over the draft.
Aachi looked at Udgitha, “The money is entirely for your education, study well and make us all proud,” she said.
Udgitha fell into aachi’s lap and sobbed like a child. Nirmala and Sekharan looked at each other dumbfounded. Aachi held Udgitha by the chin, “Come on little child stop crying,” she said. Then she looked at the others and said, “I feel so tired, I need to go to sleep.”
Udgitha was so overwhelmed that she could hardly sleep through the night. The more she thought about aachi the more she wanted to make her feel special. Suddenly she remembered that aachi had a strong craving for curd rice. She decided that she would help in preparing some for aachi the next day.
It was fairly early in the morning that Murugan started packing his luggage. Sekharan decided to drop him off at the bus terminus on way to the factory. Nirmala had prepared hot uttapam and sambar for breakfast. Murugan feasted on them. As Sekharan was kick-starting his moped, aachi came out of her room.
“Be careful with Murugan,” she said. Murugan came over to aachi, touched her feet and sought her blessings. They both rode off and aachi went back to her room.
In the meantime, Udgitha told her mother about her plans. Nirmala was very much exited.
While the rice was being cooked, Udgitha quietly tiptoed into aachi’s room to check on her and saw her reclining on the chair in the veranda. She went back into the kitchen.
About an hour later the rice was ready. Nirmala took a spoonful in her palm and checked the seasoning. It was perfect. She poured the rice into a white porcelain bowl and topped it with cucumber and pomegranate. Udgitha took the bowl and went into aachi’s room. She placed it on the centre table and went out to the veranda.
Aachi’s eyes were closed, and as usual, her hands were resting on her belly in a clasp. Udgitha called out to her. There was no reply. After calling a few times, Udgitha gently tugged her arm.
Aachi’s head titled to one side. She was no more.
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