Memories of My Grandparents' Home

Yesterday my mom, sister, an aunt and I visited mom's home town. It's where my grandparents lived and raised their four kids. When I was little, I loved going there. I spent my school holidays with my grandparents. Their yard is quite big - four acres, and as a little girl it was the biggest land I'd even seen. I also loved their home. It's on top of a small knoll, facing a large paddy field. Back then it had a beautiful front porch and a back porch. The kitchen was a separate building and there were two wells, one for drinking water and the other for washing and bathing.

 

Until I was 10 years or so, the village had no electricity. I remember watching my grandpa lighting a Petromax lamp every evening. Then he would hang it in the living room. There were also oil lamps in each room.  Having grown up in a house with electricity, I was afraid of the dark, and I would run through the dark corridor that lead to the outside kitchen and never went outside at night without grandma.

Every year my parents took us to visit grandparents. It was a big trip for us. We would wake up very early and take the bus to the main railway station. From there we would take the train. I used to ask dad to reserve a seat so I can watch the ocean as the train passes through the coastal area. The train ride was slow, but we had so many things to entertain us. My sisters and I used to take our dolls with us and pretend to describe every passing town to dolls. My mom would bring sandwiches, tea and water because she didn't want to buy food from the vendors on the train. Sometimes dad would buy roasted peanuts for us, but mom didn't allow anything else.  After traveling almost 100 miles, we would get off the train around 11 am. Then we had to wait for another bus which took us to  grandparent's village. We would then walk about 10 minutes, a portion of it along a dirt road that lead to the grandparents' home.

 

Grandpa used to watch the road from the front porch, and as soon as he saw us he would say out loud "They are here. They are here." Then grandma would run toward us, smiling and hugging everyone. She would make every curry we liked, and the dining table was full of delicious food. So we would hurry up, run to the well to take a wash and gather around the dining table. Grandpa would sit in his wheelchair and join us. Grandma took great pleasure in cooking freshly caught fish for my dad and cashews from the nearby tree.
 

My grandparents are long gone now. My  mom's youngest brother and his family live there now and they have changed the house a lot. Both front and back porches are gone and the beautiful architectural details have been removed. The village has also gone through a huge change. There are more houses with much smaller yards and more traffic.

 

 

I still love going there, but it's not the same. More than anything else, I miss grandpa and grandma and their unconditional love for us.