We, Our Grandfather and His Inspiring Talks

Perhaps, after receiving love and care from parents, children get an extra bonding love from their grandparents. After all, grandparents are like caring guardians, full of blessings and love, and always ready to inspire with their little stories and timely precepts.

When we were kids we used to earnestly sit in front of our grandfather, who then, used to narrate something interesting, something inspiring from his vivid memory. We, as grandchildren, always listened to him, in rapture.

Our grandfather had a painful past: he became orphan when he was at tender age, he started working as a shop assistant in a cloth stores when he was barely 14 years, and his career took irregular tempo with varying jobs. He struggled hard when he had tough times in a company that dealt with turbines, and he had good, cheery times when he was employed in British Airways in India.

Oftentimes, we used to admire his heroic personality. He was tall, with an athletic physique, broad shoulders and muscular arms. His speech had a charming tone that inspired listeners. Without any flaw, he had a good writing in English, and he spoke English, with good fluency.

“Grandfather, what’s your qualification?” we, once, asked him with eagerness.

“Oh, I am not much lettered; I had only my primary schooling. The way I speak and write is all what I have learnt while working in British Airways,” he said without any pause.

One day, our grandfather noted our bulky school bags when we unloaded, with all tiredness after returning from the school. Observing us, he said, “When we were kids, we enjoyed our schooling. After coming home from the school, we took time to study before sunset, and after a delicious meal and little play, we used to go off to our beds for a good sleep”.

Indeed, our grandfather lived a tough, bold and amazing life. In hard times, he rarely allowed any fold to show up on his forehead and his tone never stumbled in sadness. On the contrary, his face was always shimmering, with lively voice and appealing expressions.

Initially, after ending up work tenure at British Airways, our grandfather proudly joined Indian Railways and at the age of fifty-eight, he was retired from the services. Even after retirement, he kept himself busy and in his sixties, he took up few clerical jobs at two places.

Despite having a battered face, with waning age and wrinkles, he had bold, commanding voice that would impress anyone. Sometimes, without a penny in his pocket, our grandfather had a buoyant attitude. When he used to utter, his speech was like an influencing oratory, and those around him always grasped inspiration. In a fitting way, he was more than a guardian, and we must say that he was a great mentor who taught us moral scruples with stimulating stories.

A brief illness seized our beloved grandfather, and he was diagnosed with failure of kidneys. He died at the age of 81 years. Prior to his death, at times, he became emotional, with tears flowing on his cheeks, but he never had a quavering tone. 

Even in his sickness, he was heartwarming person who walked firmly and spoke vividly, with short pauses.

Now, after more than a decade of his death, we still remember his intimate guardianship and cautious mentoring. His anecdotes, full of golden words still resonates in our lives, and indeed these like special gifts have proved worthwhile to chisel our personalities.