Bai
We knew her as Bai, a very common way of addressing the mother in this region in the bygone era. Bai in certain other parts of the country was not considered polite while addressing a lady. But in our region, Bai was commonly the mother and Babuji the father. I, for one had my own granny (maternal) who is Bai, so it was quite ok to have your wife’s granny (paternal) being addressed the same way. I got to know her very briefly during our occasional visits to the in-laws. I don’t recall her having spoken to me directly ever, but she was around and her persona was confident and sort of detached from the routine and mundane. So my impressions of her are essentially what I gathered from the better half and my in-laws. Short and dimunitive in her stature, she was slightly hunched owing to old age as also the daily chores in a rural household over several decades had taken their toll. She was always in a veil in front of strangers that included relatives too, but being the grand son-in law,...