My only surviving grand father passed away yesterday night around 3.30 AM. Not that it came as a surprise for us. It may be something that probably we all were waiting for ( I am ashamed to say this, but this is the truth!). My grand father was 95 and was kind of strong until a fortnight back. He would eat normally, walk and live normally except that he had some kind of mental illusion or probably a slight bit of schizophrenia where he was imagining a lot of things and saying it aloud. Other than that physically he was fine except he had diminishing vision and hearing. About 15 days back he kind of had some fever and was not eating regular food. He was just living on some liquid and water. He stopped urinating and the doctor suspected kidney failure and gave him only 24 hours on 10th September. My parents took a train and we all hoped that Aja should hang on till they reach. But yeah, he made it when they arrived on 11th. Not only that, he also was getting little bit better even though the bladder was not functioning. Then my uncle and his family took him to another doctor and they said that Aja's kidneys are fine, but ultrasound revealed that his urinary tract has a 3 inch tumor and they wanted to operate upon it. But, suddenly doctors decided against it because of his age and some other blood factors. His pulse rate, blood pressure constantly rose for some time along with uric acid. Doctors tried Dialysis, but that did not work. At that stage they decided to leave him alone and released him home. All along, the best part is he did not loose his senses. He was responding to questions, although he was very weak. The saline with some medicine was his only food for last 15 days. Every time, I get a call from my uncle's home, I would dread if aja is alright. I was to visit Lucknow on an official trip from 23rd September to 26th September. Part of me wanted to visit just because I wanted to see him. Now, I am sad that I can't see him upon my visit to Lucknow. Not only that my uncle's family and mother would also leave for Puri soon to carry on the last rites, so I may not see them as well. My mood is sombre, but at the same time, I am telling to myself that he is not having any pain and suffering any more. He is in a better place now.
Revisiting past, our aja (my mother's father) was one of the most welcome visitors to our house. Whenever he would come he would take 4 of us (all 4 brothers and sisters) to near by sweet shop and let us eat anything we liked. That was the best part of it. I was small and greedy. Often I would order more that I can eat - much to the displeasure of my older brother. He was kind of ashamed of my greedy behavior and will flag through his angry face not to behave that way, but hey who cares.... Aja would let me order anything I liked and I could pack them home, if I could not finish it then. Visits to Aja's house in Jamshedpur was always fun. Great food, nice new clothes and festive occasion is all that I remember. My grand mother passed away long back (in 1982) and my grand father was all by himself since then. He lived with my uncle for a long time (about 26 years). We have not done anything for him as such which I regret to say. We just knew that he existed, but did not have chance to call him, since he couldn't hear much. Every time he fell sick, he would bounce back, but this time he could not. With all this, I wish to give you a final good bye Aja - may your soul rest in peace...
Revisiting past, our aja (my mother's father) was one of the most welcome visitors to our house. Whenever he would come he would take 4 of us (all 4 brothers and sisters) to near by sweet shop and let us eat anything we liked. That was the best part of it. I was small and greedy. Often I would order more that I can eat - much to the displeasure of my older brother. He was kind of ashamed of my greedy behavior and will flag through his angry face not to behave that way, but hey who cares.... Aja would let me order anything I liked and I could pack them home, if I could not finish it then. Visits to Aja's house in Jamshedpur was always fun. Great food, nice new clothes and festive occasion is all that I remember. My grand mother passed away long back (in 1982) and my grand father was all by himself since then. He lived with my uncle for a long time (about 26 years). We have not done anything for him as such which I regret to say. We just knew that he existed, but did not have chance to call him, since he couldn't hear much. Every time he fell sick, he would bounce back, but this time he could not. With all this, I wish to give you a final good bye Aja - may your soul rest in peace...
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