grandparents

dadi's chants echo in the house,

her bells find their way into my thoughts

as I start something else somewhere

we clean our living space every third day

the days my grandfather is at his chirpiest

he smiles a centimeter wider

and speaks more clearly

he manages to keep his temper down and

gives me extra crumbs from his plate during breakfast

now, dadu is not one to help around the house

he is the kind who wait for the food to

appear and disappear under his nose

but when his grandchildren come to clean the house

he insists he serve the food to us

so he takes the 2 meter walk from the kitchen to the dining table

twice!

each time getting a tiny plate with a tiny edible in it

once watermelons

bread pakoras the second time.

he laughed a hearty laugh during breakfast

It was the loudest laugh I had heard from him all week