09/July!

I will not call this day special..but I dedicate it to the one person who is really special...my Grand Pa!!! Today happens to be his birthday..but I do not need a birthday to remind me of what a beautiful person he was or of all those wonderful moments that we spent together...they are memories that will alweyz remain my favourites...

He was a very respected and loved professor, teaching was his passion and his students will vouch for this, he was as strict as any professor,(teaching an all boys institute demanded that!!!) and yet soft on the inside. Back home he was our grand pa..full of fun, he played like he was one among us some of our favorites were "fixed deposit", " contact programme" and the good old hide and seek and my poor gran ma had to be the law enforcer. I went to live with my grandparents when I was 2 and a half years old(I was not an angel I assure you and could be very demanding..!!!) and they put up with every tantrum and whim of mine, when they would go to meet my uncle in the hostel, I would want to tag along but never empty handed, my book, color pencils and some flowers for my uncle would be part of the baggage(which I would neva bother to carry!!!). When I joined school I lived in the hostel but I would meet them every sunday and every sunday was special. Inspite of his age my grandfather made it a point to walk down to my hostel every sunday to spend some time with me, as I grew older, he couldnt make it to every meeting but whenever it was an exam (specially mathematics!!) he would be there to help me with statistics...or moral support nything where he could help.. In my 12th std, when I fell ill before my boards..he came to take me home so I could recoup before I went to attempt my final exams...(I wonder if anybody would be as lucky as me..and I thank God every day for giving me such a loving grand pa!!) he used to give me my medicines on time...checked if I wanted nything,since I was on antibiotics and that could be weakening he would give me sugar water to help swallow my medicines..every thing was taken care of..the periodic check up with the doctor...even to the neurologist when I was diagonised with severe migraine..my grand pa was there every time I needed him to support me or to pamper me..I was, to him, his best grand child!!!

Whenever it was holiday time..he would accompany me, at times, back home..and those were the best journeys...there was food at every stop and there were games, nicknames and all fun things in general, well this was his all time favourite, he would sit behind us(my cousin and I) and hit one of us on the head and when we turned back he would blame the other..we never figured out who was behind this for a very long time...we were still kids ..but we enjoyed it!! I grew up lissening to his stories, enjoying his pranks, playing with him, learning and understanding new things, he was a teacher,my fren and my gran pa!! I feel his loss today and I know he will neva be replaced.. At this moment the lyrics of a song come to my mind....

If only you could see the tears in the world you left behind
If only you could heal my heart just one more time
Even when I close my eyes
There's an image of your face
And once again I come to realise
You're a loss I can't replace

Soledad
It's a keeping for the lonely
Since the day that you were gone
In my heart you were the only
And your memory lives on!!!.......