Ammumma

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If there is one woman who inspires me always and urge me to push my limits every single time, I can, without blinking my eye, say that it's my Ammumma - my maternal grandmother. My first memory of Ammumma is of an independent, strong, working woman who thought the world of us, her grandchildren. You could see that our mere presence was more than enough for her to be happy. She didn't wish for anything else!

Being widowed at a very young age after just over a year of being married and with a 60 day old baby to look after, Ammumma fought hard with fate and life in general. She had to act strong, will her mind to be courageous even when her mind was in a huge turmoil, seeing nothing but darkness in front. Still, she pushed through the dark road in front of her, worked hard and raised her baby girl all by herself, not resting until her little one was married off!

Recently, while I was visiting home, I was lazing around and wondering what to read, when Ammumma came and sat next to me. That day, her sister in law had passed away in the morning. Since Appuppan, her husband, had 7 siblings and since she was widowed very young we were not close to many of the siblings except a few. So, when Ammumma was in a hurry to go to her sister in law's place to see one last glimpse of her and was quite restless because my mom was getting late, I couldn't understand the reason, since we rarely kept in touch with this sister in law of hers. But that evening, when she sat next to me, I was in for an emotional two hours listening to this superwoman talk about her days long gone by! She rarely speaks about her one year of marriage before she was widowed and this was the first time I heard about it. She told me how her sister in law, whom everybody spoke off as an introvert, accompanied her and my grandfather to his posting area, took care of Ammumma when she was pregnant, speaking very rarely but loving my grandmother in her own way and keeping herself away when the couple spent time together. We then spoke about her days filled with uncertainity and a newborn, after her husband passed away.

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Ammumma is a very strong woman, and that day, I heard her voice falter thinking about her dark widowed days with very little help except from a few good-hearted souls and thinking several times before she took any decision and hoping with her heart that she was right in whatever she did. Much to my surprise, many people I was not fond of because society didn't portray a good picture of them helped her to a great deal when she was in need and few people I am very fond of posed the biggest worries to her. It was an eye opener for me of how people will be there for you when you don't need anyone's help and how very few will be there for you in your darkest hours. And how misinformed are we to judge people solely on the basis of what others tell us even when they have done us no harm!

We spoke for more than two hours that day and talking to her reaffirmed what I already knew - she is what a superwoman is, she represents the power of all woman, what a woman can endure and still come out as a winner. To me, she is the true spirit of a woman. To me, she is success - my Ammumma!