My 80th Birthday Party: What happened after...

Dear Diary,

You won't believe what happened today.

So, as you know, I had been looking for Suman Nani for long now. I finally found her! She was staying at Rose Old Age Home, for the past two decades! It was her birthday today. Thus, I decided to throw her a party.

I have made up my mind. She will stay with me from now on. So, I asked her to join me and she said yes! We are bringing up her stuff here tomorrow.

I can't believe it. My house, the one in which I had recently shifted to, is going to be the house where I stay with my Nani!!!

When I had rented the house, I had gone for a double bedroom one. Maybe I had known even then that Suman Nani and I had to meet someday. The guest bedroom will now be occupied, by my grandmother! I will redecorate it for her, to make her feel at home.

Well, tomorrow is going to be a very long day. I need to get enough sleep.

Good Night!

Naina

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Dear Diary,

Today we shifted Nani's things into our house. The day was a roller coaster. I woke up happily and got ready to go to the Old Age Home. When I entered, Nani was waiting for me at the entrance.

"Pranam Nani."

"Stay happy my child."

"Nani, what are you doing here? Isn't it your breakfast time? You should be in the dinner hall. Come on, let's get you there."

We walked slowly towards the hall. I could feel tension building up. Nani was nervous. Why wouldn't she be? She had to leave her twenty year old home to go and live off with almost a complete stranger. Even I was nervous. What if it didn't work out?

Nonetheless, I led Nani to her usual table, and went towards the buffet to get breakfast for both of us. Parathas, Poha and a nice, hot cup of tea for Nani. I preferred coffee. This was when I realized the first problem. Tea.

I don't usually have tea leaves or teabags at my place. Now that Suman Nani will stay there, I will have to make sure that I buy them.

I notice an air of sadness in the Home when I led the packers and movers into Nani's room. I was supervising the whole process of packing Nani's belongings. Nani, on the other hand, was busy bidding farewell to her friends at the home.

During the lunch break, I was surprised to see some of my own friends had ended up coming to the Home, to help me and to make sure Nani settles into our home comfortably.

This was when I reminded myself of the second problem. Friends. Now that Nani was going to live with me, she might want to spend time with her friends too, that means she would like to come to the Home often.

A light bulb was switched on in my mind at that moment. Ramesh! The volunteer who helped me to meet Nani in the first place! I finished my lunch and went over to him in haste.

"Ramesh, I have a request. You come here almost daily right?"

"Yes."

"And you live in the neighbourhood of my house?"

"Yes."

"So, could you bring Nani here once or twice each week to meet her friends? She might want to meet them and I would be busy with college."

"Sure. Anything for Suman Nani."

"Thanks." A big grin reigns my face. I was delighted. One problem solved.

"Ahh!"  

I heard a scream, Nani! Hurriedly, I rushed over to the scene of the crime. I saw a vase, broken into a hundred pieces and Nani, standing there, looking horrified.

"Naina, this was the vase given to me by your mother. This packing guy just dropped it like it was a ball!"

"Given by mom? Hey, please be careful. These are the precious belongings of my grandmother that you are dealing with." I said to the man standing nearby.

After this, the packing went smoothly and before I knew it, Nani and I were in my car, heading home. Our home.

My friend, Kia, had come in before us and made sure all Nani's belongings were unpacked from the boxes.

When we entered, there was just one thing left to do - arrange everything. This was easier said than done. With each item that was being unpacked, Nani went into flashback mode and told me and Kia the whole story behind it. At first, it was very nice, but then I realized that an hour had passed, and we had unpacked only about half a dozen items!

Time flew and before we knew it, it was time for dinner. I decided to order from a restaurant. The food arrived shortly. We all ate it but I could see Nani didn't like it that much.

Nani was feeling sleepy, so I asked her to sleep in my room while I and Kia unpacked her belongings. After she drifted off, we got the work done a lot faster. Finally, we both have now decided to call it a day.

Good night!

Naina

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Dear Diary,

Today was an awesome! I had to leave for college early, so I decided to leave Nani a note and took off. She didn't see the note and went pillar to post to find Ramesh's house to call me up.

Worried sick, I came back home for lunch. As I stepped into the house, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were about five hot dishes, ready to eat. Biryani, Palak Paneer, Rice, Curry and Dal Makhni waited for me. When I asked, Nani said that she had made it all herself.

I was really impressed. Dinner was even better. We ate South Indian - Dosa, Idli and Sambhar.

That's it. Nothing else exciting or important happened today. I am going to sleep now.

Good Night!

Naina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A MONTH LATER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary,

I know that I haven't updated you for a while now. I was busy with my exams, finally there are over! Whew! What a relief.

Today, Nani was feeling a bit low. Well, I have been noticing her like that for quite a while now. So, I asked her during dinner, "Nani, what's wrong? Why do you seem so sad these days?"

She gives me a sad look and says, "Nothing dear. I just miss my friends back at the Home."

"What! Isn't Ramesh taking you there?"

"Ramesh, yes, he was. But right now he has gone to his hometown to visit his parents."

"Oh...Nani! Why didn't you tell me before? I could have dropped you there."

"Dear, I know you were busy with your exams. Every day you go to college early and come back in the evening. Even at night after dinner, you lock yourself in you room and study till late. I didn't want to disturb you."

"Nani, you can never disturb me. Okay, you know what? I will not take you to the Home."

With this last sentence, I got up and went towards my room. I knew Nani would feel disappointed, but this was all a part of my plan.

Good Night!

Naina

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Dear Diary,

I don't understand what happened to Naina today. She acted strange during dinner.

When I told her I hadn't visited the Home and was missing it, she just left! No comments, no reply, NOTHING! Well, I don't know what got into her, but as far as I've known her in the past month, I never felt that she was rude. But today was way too weird for me. I think I need to take rest.

Suman Devi

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Dear Diary,

Forget everything that I wrote about Naina yesterday. I was wrong. I guess I don't know her as well as I had anticipated. Today, I went to the Home, by myself.

In the morning, Naina went out early. Had it been any other day, I would have felt okay, but today was a Sunday. She usually spent it with me. I would recollect old memories and she would listen to them fondly. Last week, she even taught me how to watch videos on her laptop. Since then, I have been all my free time browsing through the videos.

When she came back, Naina was smiling from ear to ear. She held a small gift-wrapped packet of sorts and directed me to open it up. In there was a phone. Not the one like I have. It was a smartphone, with the touchscreen and the absurd features and a camera.

"Thank you Naina, but I don't know how to use this thing."

She smiled, looking just my daughter. "Nani, I will teach you how to use it. Firstly, let me tell you how to book a cab from here to the Home and back. Okay?"

I watched in awe as she explained the whole process to me. After a few attempts, I got it and booked the taxi. Soon, it arrived and we both went to the Home. I was so happy to meet my friends. Then, we took a taxi back home, this time, I booked it myself!

Now I can go to the Home whenever I want. This was what she meant when she said that she wouldn't take me to the Home, she wanted to teach me how to do it myself. Naina said that she would slowly teach me to use the phone properly and maybe I could open up my own YouTube channel, to teach my recipes.

I had figured that I was surely going to enjoy spending time with Naina, but this is not just that. It's a learning opportunity for me. I will get to spend time with my granddaughter and learn something new every day. My life has brightened up ever since I met Naina.

Suman Devi