*The women of our family!*
My paternal grandmother, the matriarch was one of smartest I knew of. She hardly had any formal education. Even in the waning days of her life she could read the complicated language of the epics with ease. She would spend her senior years reading and reading. The other intellectual pursuit she was good at was rangoli (ముగ్గులు). She would try intricate designs and maintain a book of all the designs.
Nearly two years back I went to see my paternal aunt in her village. In her early 80s she was frail and not in her elements. She couldn’t recognize me too and had to introduce myself. However, there was a book in her hand. She too didn’t have much of a formal education. Like her mother reading was part of her DNA. The last recollections of her will always be with the book in hand sitting near the window, as she soon passed away. She had known all epics by heart. Fading eyesight or health never was a damper for her!
Her younger sister is an avid learner. The love for her learning has no bounds. She had passed her 10th class and was good at studies from early on. When she was in US for the birth of her granddaughter she will get children’s books from the library and write detailed notes after reading them. She would find meaning for the words she wouldn’t know and add it to her notes. She is so good at reading Sivapuranam to whatever book she would lay her hand on. Being in a village did not confine her genuine love for learning. Few years back she used to write questions and answers from “who wants to be a millionaire” in her notes. Nothing limits her in her intellectual pursuits. The other day she was asking the college bound oldest granddaughter the capitals of countries and was diligently taking notes. This is to teach her youngest grandson who is in PreK. The grandson and grandma have their WhatsApp sessions everyday. It is hard to communicate with the younger lot living in a different culture even face to face. She would somehow connect and carryon engaging conversations with all her grandchildren and teach them a thing or two.
My mother didn’t go past her primary education. I didn’t know few sides of her till she came to US and stayed with us for a year. She would recite poem after poem. I hardly know couple of Vemana poems at best. My reading of Telugu is atrocious not that English is any better. She reads even to this day whenever she could find some time for herself.
Some of us had the good fortune of attending fancy schools and obtaining higher degrees. I was looking at myself and the genuine love for reading is not there. With limited means and access the women of our family did remarkably well in enriching their lives. I am sure it may be true in many other families too. Once in a while it is worth slowing down and look for enriching experiences that are around us! I think I should start from today on!