Aditi’s body language

Veda was twelve when she got chickenpox from her brother. She was traveling from Calcutta to

Chennai as her maternal grandmother was due to be hospitalised for a heart surgery.

She was reading an article in the fight of a monkey stealing bananas from a local vendor in

Chennai. She felt bad that animals have to steal food for a living.

After a while she started drawing her grandmother feeding her roti and mango on a hot summer

afternoon after she had had bath in the fountain in her grandmother's garden. She remembered

the stories her grandmother used to tell her about her marriage and family life. The amount she

sacrificed and bore during the first eight years of her marriage, trying to get along with her in-laws

and giving birth to a son and 3 beautiful daughters. She looked after her husband, her in-laws,

kids, house and made every guest feel at home so they kept coming very often. Veda’s

grandmother used to tell her to do work and look after the house n learn to cook. She hated all

that. She was a pampered little girl in her paternal grandparent’s house. She never had to do any

work there as there were plenty maids, servants and drivers at her beck and call.

Veda stopped drawing n went to sleep on her mother's lap.

The next day Veda’s grandmother was hospitalised at Apollo hospital and was attended by Dr.

Devi Shetty. Veda was still upset and angry thinking of her grandmother telling her to do work.

The following day when she woke up in the morning, she saw her uncles and mother busy

booking flight tickets back to Calcutta. Veda did not want to hide her face and fly again. Later

she learned that her grandmother was no more. It was weird scenario. Nobody was moaning or

even shed a single drop of tear.

Veda wanted to cry but not in front of everyone. They appeared normal.

Throughout breakfast she kept a blank face and did not talk to anyone.

When her uncle passed by her while she was packing her suitcase, he put a hand on her

shoulder and said everything will be alright. She turned to her uncle and burst into tears and told

him how sorry she was about being angry at her grandmother.

Veda did not leave her uncle's side till they reached Calcutta for the funeral ceremony and prayed

to god for forgiveness and to cure her chickenpox fast.