Dida had busy mornings. She would wake up early in the morning, take bath, wash her clothes, spend the greater part of the morning in thakurghor praying. She loved spending time in the kitchen. So mornings were mostly spent in chopping vegetables and then cooking them. She would grab a bite in between. One would never find her sitting still in the morning. She would always find something or the other to do. I loved trailing behind her as she would keep hopping from one part of the house to another.
Afternoons used to be idyllic. Dida and I would lie down on her bed and I would ask her about random things. I was particularly interested in her childhood. I used to be very curious of her life as a child. I loved listening to the things she did when she was young. More so probably because it was difficult for a 6-7 years old to imagine that her grandmother was a girl like her at some point of her life.
On one such winter afternoon, she was telling me about her life after she had shifted to Kolkata from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). She used to live with her uncle and aunt here. Her parents, however, continued living in Bangladesh. In her new neighborhood in Kolkata, lived a Memsahib. Dida and she had exchanged smiles on few occassions. She would mostly wear dresses but what caught my Dida's fancy was the tie up stiletto heels that she would wear. Dida dreamed of owning a pair. She enquired about the price from somewhere and decided to write to her mother about it. She wrote how stylish those shoes look like and would like to buy one of those. After few weeks, to her delight, Dida's mother replied to her letter with the money enclosed inside so that she could buy those heels. Dida's joy knew no bounds and immediately she handed over the money to her aunt and told her about the shoes she wanted to buy. Her aunt measured her sole and went to the market in search of those most coveted pair of heels. When she came back, she handed over a pair of flat sandals to Dida. My Dida, to say the least, was very disappointed. Her aunt reasoned saying how was she going to walk in those high heels. She would end up hurting her ankles. And then further, the price of those flats was almost one-eighth the price of those heels. She could buy more shoes or whatever she wanted to with the left over money, advised her aunt.
Completing the story, Dida started laughing about her naive wish and how it remained unfulfilled. I laughed my heart out too, imagining what would have happened if Dida's aunt had bought those pair of stilettos! It was so difficult to imagine 'young' Dida, in her teens, walking on the streets wearing those heels. I was more amused to think of the reaction of that Memsahib had she discovered Dida's stilettos!
On one such winter afternoon, she was telling me about her life after she had shifted to Kolkata from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). She used to live with her uncle and aunt here. Her parents, however, continued living in Bangladesh. In her new neighborhood in Kolkata, lived a Memsahib. Dida and she had exchanged smiles on few occassions. She would mostly wear dresses but what caught my Dida's fancy was the tie up stiletto heels that she would wear. Dida dreamed of owning a pair. She enquired about the price from somewhere and decided to write to her mother about it. She wrote how stylish those shoes look like and would like to buy one of those. After few weeks, to her delight, Dida's mother replied to her letter with the money enclosed inside so that she could buy those heels. Dida's joy knew no bounds and immediately she handed over the money to her aunt and told her about the shoes she wanted to buy. Her aunt measured her sole and went to the market in search of those most coveted pair of heels. When she came back, she handed over a pair of flat sandals to Dida. My Dida, to say the least, was very disappointed. Her aunt reasoned saying how was she going to walk in those high heels. She would end up hurting her ankles. And then further, the price of those flats was almost one-eighth the price of those heels. She could buy more shoes or whatever she wanted to with the left over money, advised her aunt.
Completing the story, Dida started laughing about her naive wish and how it remained unfulfilled. I laughed my heart out too, imagining what would have happened if Dida's aunt had bought those pair of stilettos! It was so difficult to imagine 'young' Dida, in her teens, walking on the streets wearing those heels. I was more amused to think of the reaction of that Memsahib had she discovered Dida's stilettos!
