Grandmothers are the most precious treasures one can have in a lifetime. Everyone is blessed with them for sometime or the other. We remember them for all the pampers, cuddles, kisses and loads of love and laughter. Even if we cannot share everything about life and living with our parents or siblings, we can share anything under the sun with our grannies. As they grow older they tend to get softer and wiser and this wisdom transcends through the stories they share with us. They become the epitomes of living traditions, heritage custodians and reflect very positively on family affinity. Even though they grow old their stories about their childhood memories and tales of triumphs and trials does not get old. They treasure the wisdom of their own grandmothers and gradually hand them down to their grandchildren.
Another aspect of grandmothers are their love affair with food recipies. These recipies never seems to grow stale. They are everlasting and always appetizing. Grannies can make every wound heal, every stress released and every worry hide behind the awesome taste of their hand made goodies which is spread out across the table. Every taste is enhanced when our grannies add their magic taste to the curries and the delicacies. I feel very proud to have such a granny. Today as she is no longer living in person, I can feel the void in my life. There will be none to share the secrets of life as and when I wished to do so. Her phone is mute forever. She cared in her own sweet way to give the best share of food, clothes, stories and loving care. As if she knew everything even without me spelling out what I want to tell.
Her existence was not only personal in my life but also social and political to a large extent. My grandmother, Late Smt. Renu Dowerah was a very dynamic woman. She was married at an young age of 17 years to Late Shri. Makhan Prasad Dowerah who was a scholar, culturally astute and a literary person. My grandmother was very active during the Assam Movement through the Golaghat district Mahila Samiti. My faint childhood memories of her reminds me how she would rush out in the evenings and cry aloud along with other women and join the movement processions for identity and better futures of young people in Assam. She also received many blows and physical threats from the high handedness of the security forces trying to crush the democratic voices during the protests. Elderly women like my grandmother saved many young lives by getting the bruises on themselves. Granny kept herself very busy during her active days with the local Mahila Samiti.
She was a silent worker and managed to get the affection of many of her contemporaries during those days. She was also the younger sister of a prominent social worker of Assam Padmashree Late. Smt. Malati Barua. My memory of my granny in social work was always related in this way. In Assam, it seems people identify young people with their ancestors and the guardians. I feel proud that many women's groups in Assam with whom I worked later in life could relate to my grandmother and her sister for their engagement with women's issues in the state.
My grandmother was a silent worker, responsible, decisive and very far sighted. She saved her family from many tribulations with her presence of mind. She could not study after her matriculation due to her household responsibilities and child rearing roles but she could manage to retain and revive a private tea garden single handedly and take care of the important business decisions related to the tea garden. She lived very boldly with a sense of freedom and dignity inspite of a highly conservative and patriarchal social set up. She died gracefully after prolonged illness absolutely independent, brave and with great honour at the age of 84 years on June 24, 2014. Her contribution to the family, society and the community might have been very humble but she has managed to leave the world after completing the full circle of life. She has filled our hearts and minds with courage, hope, wisdom and faith in the miracles of life.
