30/07/2025

Dearest Poochitta,

You have walked this earth for all of 84 years and we are indeed the richer for it.

My earliest memory of you is from the time you lived in New Colony. I remember you tying beautiful, big rakhis on Raj’s and Venu’s wrist. I also remember crying for one for myself. Since you hadn’t factored that I would ask for a rakhi too, you gave me two sets of colourful earrings instead. I never wore them but I do remember being fascinated and soothed by the colourful gift.

I also remember our early trips to visit you in Kerala. I know how generous you were with us children and with my parents, especially with my mother.  I still remember clearly the pretty and probably very expensive sarees you gave her and the pair of pearl earrings that I still sometimes wear with fond nostalgia. It was on one of these trips that you went from being my aunt to my confidante and friend and I still remember the letters we wrote to each other for some years after that trip.

Just as clear are the memories of how you transitioned in my eyes from being ‘pawam’ poochitta to being the remarkable, empowered and strong woman you are at the core of your being. You were probably the first of your siblings to learn computers, not just to be comfortable with but to proactively find and use newfangled gadgets. You made sure you always had an internet connection! I loved watching you play word games on your pc and I remember being absolutely gob smacked when I heard that you had learnt to drive a car at an age when most people wouldn’t have dared. There was a newfound respect for you in my eyes which has just continued to grow over the years.

Poochitta, what a beautiful mix you are of conservative, modern and eclectic!!! I have seen you as comfortable and stylish in jeans as you were in the most elegant sarees. I can hear you chiding me not so long ago for not using the 50 plus ads on the internet to find a husband with the same ease with which you had chided me for not wearing gold ornaments and leaving my ears, neck and wrists bare. The conventional side of you fits so smoothly with the modern, making me realize how they don’t need to be mutually exclusive.

Many people would put you down as plain lucky. You were somehow able to live a childhood that was much better than your older siblings. It seems like you did not have to face as many struggles and suffer any kind of lack despite being born in the same circumstances. Life around you kept getting better for you and for the others before and after you. Maybe it is luck or maybe it is just a result of who you were and are… a person tuned in perfectly into life. A person who was unapologetic about wanting the good things of life and hence equally unsurprised when you got them.  We all could learn a lot from your life indeed!

Above all, what I have learnt from you is to be a happy soul, no matter your circumstances! Your life has had its share of challenges, all of which you accepted with grace and contentment. I have never heard you complain even about things that would have robbed many people of their peace. This attitude combined with your unwavering faith in God and in life, your ability to live fully and to live in the moment and the joy you feel and transmit to all around you makes you really special.

Loads and loads of love. May this be an exceptional birthday and may you have many more years of a life filled with love, good health and joy.

Latha