Waiting for a New Day

Written by Bhavya Merani
Leadership Open Elective taught by Jibrael Jos
Nov 2018 at Christ University

It's not very frequent that I get time to meet my grandma but when I do, I make sure I make most of it because she is an ocean of experiences. Our conversations are always revolving around some or the other explorations in life where I am the one questioning her “did you do this” or “did you do that” in your young days. And let me tell you, she is just like those granny’s who have the habit of forgetting things, speaking repetitively, scolding for even the smallest of mistakes and most importantly, having advice for be it any matter. Well, this is what brings me closer to her.

Life is not a cake walk for anyone. More the ups and downs, more the memories we make and I feel this is what makes our entire journey worthwhile. My granny also has an interesting and inspiring story of her own. When India was facing the partition with Pakistan, we all know what chaos took place in the country. many families lost their homes and their dear ones. My granny was one of them. She lost her parents in the war. While people were selfishly choosing their land to live, she was planning to escape from a small province called “Sindh.” She shared with me how she felt at that time when people were boarding trains to India leaving most of their wealth behind. At the age of 27, she along with brother fled from that village and came to Delhi. My granny always asks me ‘how I am doing at my studies.’ She says that education was the only power that helped her in surviving and building a new living in Delhi. In those days the government of India was providing means of earning and living to all those who fled from Pakistan. My granny and her brother got one small house to live in and a small shop to make a living. While her brother started running the shop, she took a job in the government office. I remember my family went to dominos once and my granny shared a shocking insight with me and my cousins. She said that the money you paid for this one pizza is what she used to get as her monthly salary. Coming out of extreme poverty was very difficult for them. But they both worked hard and in a span of three years, collected a good amount of money for each other’s marriage. Life became stable after marriage. Happiness again found a way into my grandmas’ life. Yet, it’s not like you will always have an obstacle free journey. After ten years of marriage, my grandpa was diagnosed with cancer and he died when my father was in 8^th grade. This horrific incident brought silence in her life. She lost hope and felt helpless as to how she will feed her three children and fund their education. she taught me that no matter how difficult the game is, never quit. There are lot more things that destiny has planned for you. If you quit, you will regret later for the good times which were yet to come. So just keep fighting through thick and thin. If I am able to recollect it correctly, once she gave me an amazing example which got registered permanently in some corner of my mind. She said “assume that night represents all the hardships and day brings happiness, then just put this into picture and notice that after every night, day comes and after every day ends, night begins” whenever I feel low or I am sad about something, I think about this and wait for a new day to come. This is what keeps me going.

Once my grandma scolded me for not being able to speak in my mother tongue which is Sindhi. I was like ‘dadi, I don’t like the accent and it feels like someone is having an argument with another.’ I got a long lecture for that. But on a serious note, I thought of learning sindhi from her, written and spoken both. There are so many lessons I have learned from her and every lesson is like a solution to my daily life problems.