MAY, GRANDMA & ME
Thoughts of an impending long monsoon hung in the air. There was this certain last minute urgency everywhere. In her schedule of things to be done before the onset of the rainy season, Grandma had to somehow fit the trip for her annual dip in the Arabian Sea.
Folks in Goa are busy around this time with a variety of chores on their hands. The monsoon season sometimes lasts three or four months of pouring rain beginning in June. Hence any repairs to houses have to be carried out before the end of May. Also grain, cereal, pickles, salted and dried fish had to be stored. Firewood and dried leaves of the mango tree are compacted into a rope-net and sparingly used mainly to heat water for bathing. In short, as the saying goes, literally everything was saved for a rainy day!
Month of May was round the corner Soon the holidays would be over; The sunlit days would shortly disappear As a giant blanket of cloudy skies Soon had the parched earth under its cover.
The impending sound of thunder Would frighten me with awe and wonder; I thought perhaps the gods above Fought a battle Searching and thirsty for more power.
Month of May was fun, Many in our little village For a brief holiday To their home they did return
From far away after tiring sojourn.
Rising as the cock crew Starting a brand new day anew Saw grandma in the kitchen By the fireside as under her breath I heard her hum a holy tune.
The bristles of the besom, In the sand formed a neat pattern, As Grandma kept rhythm - Her one hand on waist perched The other swung in a perfect arch; The sun rose as it cast A long shadow crouched Over land so tranquil and vast.
Bent with her downcast gaze, Deep into the earth she seemed to peer, Seemed as though she saw through the dusty haze, For a distant past or future Of which I had no idea.
Grandma's annual dip In the Arabian Seas For a her aging knees She thought was good indeed Took me along on a trip To a idyllic place called Baga On the eight o'clock "Carreira"
Sultry were many a night Starlit skies a great delight As out in the courtyard on my back I lay After futile attempts to count the myriad stars above Lost my count and made a wish when a shooting star That distracted me as it made a brief display.
"Grandma, tell me a very long story" I would banter And long before the tale was over She shortly found me in deep slumber.
Tony Fernandes
