Deciphering His Love

83 | The One With The Epilogue

25 years later....

M A D H U S H R E E     R A M A K R I S H N A

Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.

25 Years is a lot of time. A lot of things happened in the last 25 years; each shaping us in it's own unique way.

A lot happened the year I turned eight years old. It was April. Mumma was heavily pregnant with her fourth baby. Her water broke on the eve of the Tamil New Year. She had a smooth and effortless delivery, Nanna said. He was there in the delivery room with Mumma, throughout. At sunrise, our baby brother was born and we named him Sridhar. We had a grand Tamil New Year - the best one ever!

A few weeks after Sridhar was born, many of our relatives kept bugging my Mumma to get a tubectomy so she wouldn't have any more babies. Nanna of course, was totally against the idea. He startled the whole family and the whole of Mumbai when he publicly claimed that he will undergo a vasectomy. As an 8 year old I had no idea what it meant - I somehow found out later in life. There was a lot of praise and applause from the public. At the same time there were some really rude demeaning comments and memes that started to circulate over the internet. Most of it were about him being 'less manly'. Nanna gave a very curt and befitting reply to all those who trolled and mocked his decision.

In my country it's usually the women who are forced to undergo a sterilization surgery despite the health risks. Vasectomies are usually less riskier and a much more simpler process.

In a largely male-dominated patriarchal society, such as India, where male sterilization is still not accepted socially, with many saying it impacts a man's virility, the family planning programme has traditionally focused on women.

Nanna underwent the vasectomy. If I look back, I would say he is the best father, best brother, best son, best husband and very soon he will be the best grandfather too. (I'll come to that part soon, wait!!!)

So Mumma had a son, Nanna went through a vasectomy, the twins and Vasu started schooling, Lakshmi Bhamma moved into the RK Mansion. It was the best few months of our lives. But the best years in our lives never last much, right? Tragedy struck us in July 15 that year, when our beloved grandfather experienced a heart attack the second time in his life. The first one was a few months after Nanna and Mumma married. He survived the first one, since it was a small cardiac arrest. The second one that came was a huge one. It brought him crumbling to his knees, calling out for Nanna. The heart attack claimed his life and he passed away in Nanna's arms. Everyone was shattered. Nanna was even shattered. July 15 became the day he lost his birth mother and his father.

Two years later, Lakshmi Bhamma passed away peacefully in her sleep. The entire night before she passed, she told me and my sister the beautiful story of how she met the love of her life. Mumma and Devi maasi were distraught.

Yashoda Bhamma led a long life. She'll be turning 90 this year.

Life went on. We grew up from kids to teenagers, and from teenagers to adults. Sridhar grew so fast, and right now he's majoring in English Literature in the University of Madras. Vishnu decided to take on a career as an illustrator for a famous children's comic in Mumbai. Vasu took after Devi maasi and Shyaam maama. He currently has himself buried under a pile of books and notes as he prepares for his LLM exams. He's planning on tying the knot very soon with his long term girlfriend, who used to be from a junior batch at the university where he did his LLB. 

Anushree became a Bharatanatyam dancer like Mumma's best friend Ahaana. She received all the training from Ahaana Aunty from age 5. Anushree is planning on opening her own dance academy in Mumbai.