A day in the life of LIFE

I would like to introduce my grandmothers to the audience before I get into the experiences. With no particular ordering, I would like to begin with my paternal grandmother (just because she is elder to my maternal one).

Smt. Vimala Shrinivas Dikshit,Aged 82, is a self made woman, in more ways than one.

Born into the freedom fighter's family of Dr. Salem Shrinivasaiah and Smt Narmada in Salem (Tamil Nadu), she lost her mother at a very tender age.This prompted her father to sell all that he had and transition from the well off status to the course of charity and freedom struggle.

His home was frequently visited by the likes of Rajaji (Rajagopalachari) and Mahatma Gandhi himself when they were in Salem.

Smt Vimala Dikshit's lineage is also attributed to her grandfather, the great Shri Karachi Krishna Rao, (who was a Civil Engineer in the Sindh province during the pre-partition era and whose exploits as narrated by my grandmother would be blogged at a later date), who tops the list of famous Sankethis on the website owing to his grit and philanthrophy. read more about us at http://www.sankethi.com/

At the age of 14, she was married to Shri Shrinivas Dikshit ( Research Scientist (MSc Chemistry from IISc)at IISc Bangalore and then Cipla Mumbai).

Educated only till class 4, she has completed the Sahitya Rathna in Hindi and now coaches the children of the neighborhood in Marathi and Hindi(class 4 to calss 10)and has had a 100% pass percentage among the children at the local school in Andheri West, who come to her for studies.

Presently residing at Shri ram nagar Colony in Mumbai(over the last 40 years),with my uncle, my grandma freqents Bangalore and Delhi where my family and my aunts' families reside.

Shez come a long way single handedly managing hordes of people in the joint family of 1st, 2nd , 3rd, 4th cousins, their kith and kin, trying hard to make ends meet and slogging from dawn to dusk with just about 4 hours of sleep a day.

An avid reader ( Arthur Hailey is one of her favourites)and a professional gardener, she loves tending to the myriad rose shrubs in her well maintained garden. She is obsessed with the color white. She has never worn a non white garment in her life ( what she started as part of the Indian freedom movement) and this was quite a challenge continuing it as a married woman specially in a closed minded society of yester years.

An all time fan of Dev Anand (I can vouch for that), and a pro at keeping herself updated on General Knowledge and current affairs, she can catch you napping on most occasions by giving you a detailed explanation of events even before you've finished watching the 9 o' clock news.

Adept at history (more because she lived through the time), she actually explained to Amar, Prashant and myself the overall story of the Boston Tea party (which we had as part of Class X history) of course with snippets from behind the scenes.

Never short of enthusiasm, this Octogenerian is zestfully passionate about life and can make any stranger feel at home. "Dikshit Maami" as she is called in the colony, is always there for any help required in her capacity.In fact, she would probably be one of the few grandmothers who bought herself a cell phone when her grandson (myself :)) did not have one.

Just before I sign off, any copyright with the articles to follow at a later date would rest with my grandma.:)

And if you feel inspired or just pleasant about reading them, it's going to be a tribute to the woman herself. Happy reading!