Vimla was born into a conservative Indian family.Her father worked in the Railways and she had a reasonably good childhood, with a doting father and loving mother and a large number of brothers and sisters.She had three brothers and six sisters.She lived in that area of India now called Pakistan.The state of Multan was hot and its arid and desert like conditions made life difficult for her, but because she was born into that kind of weather, so it was easy for her to adjust accordingly.
Vimla had a secure childhood though her parents were not too well-off.She enjoyed her childhood days with her siblings and had fond memories of learning how to knit with the help of bicycle rods!She learnt how to knit from an English lady.She thoroughly enjoyed knitting and later in her life she had knitted a lot of woollen clothes for her grandchildren.
She did not have a formal education as girls in those times were not taught in schools.She studied for about four or five years, that is till the primary classes of class two or three. When she was sixteen she got married to strapping, tall and handsome young man from her state.She was glad to get married to such a good man who gave her all the respect and love she required all through her life.
After a few years of marriage she gave birth to a cute little baby boy and after that she had four more kids two daughters and two sons.All in all life was peaceful and going on at its humdrum pace,till things took a sudden change and life became totally different for Vimla and her family.The country was going through some important political changes and due to this there was a partition that took place in the country.The state of Multan came into the part called Pakistan and Vimla’s family were Hindus and so they were required to shift to India.Pakistan was primarily occupied by Muslims.
Vimla had to undergo a life threatening experience when she was travelling from Pakistan to India.She took her three sons and sat in the train along with a few relations and her husband was going to India by air as he was in the RSS a political wing.She was a gutsy woman, who did not flinch at the site of dead bodies strewn all over the streets when she was going to board the train along with her kids.She knew that she walking on razor’s edge and anything could happen to her or her kids.The communal riots were in full swing and she being a hindu, could be targeted any time.Many people hid under big trunks and behind cupboards and there was utter chaos everywhere.Women and kids were killed without a second thought and many women committed suicide rather than being targeted by the muslim men.
It was in these impossible circumstances that Vimla managed to bring her kids to India in the train, where she constantly ducked and hid below the seats to save her kids and herself.It was a very difficult time in her life, as she had to just run for hers and her kids life after leaving the safe abode of her home,so suddenly.When she was in the train she really did not know whether she would reach India alive or no.By God’s grace she was saved and she reached Ludhiana in Punjab and got off the train with her kids and other relatives.Here, after a few days her husband came to fetch her and she went to Delhi with her family.
In Delhi her family was allotted a house in Old Delhi and after the first hitches in settling down in a new place,things slowly became normal and life started all over again.Her husband joined the Airlines as a typewriter(clerk) and he worked very hard and got promotions very promptly.He was a gentle man in every sense and was a constant peacemaker in neighbourhood brawls.He was respected by one and all and people heeded to his advice when required.
Vimla lost her second son to the disease of typhoid and after a few years she gave birth to two daughters and son.When her youngest son was just about six months old another very significant change happened in Vimla’s life.She lost her husband, after he had succumbed to a long bout of jaundice.This was a big blow to her and she was at a complete loss as to how she should bring up her kids all alone,without any financial aid.Although two of her elder sons had been indicted into the Airlines by her husband and there was a source of income,but she was a fiercely self reliant woman and so she started sewing clothes and doing other small jobs to provide for her kids.
Her mother-in-law helped her in these difficult times in a big way by supporting her at every juncture and she took care of every need of her son’s family in a very caring and affectionate manner.Vimla was a very determined and strong-willed woman who did not feel threatened at any juncture of her life.She had full confidence on herself and her abilities and when she faced challenging circumstances with her kids later on,she always knew how to manage herself and bring her kids out of difficult circumstances in no time.She was a pillar of strength for her kids and they looked up to her and respected her immensely as they had lost their father very early on,only when their father was forty-two.
Vimla brought up her kids in the best possible way she could and she got her sons married after the marriages of her daughters.Life took peaceful turn for Vimla and she got busy taking care of
her grandchildren who gave her lot of joy.After a few years her son got transferred to another city and he left with his daughter to go to that city.She would now travel to that city and live there for a few months and then live in Delhi alternately.Her daughters were well settled in their families,though her elder daughter did have a few problems initially while settling down in her family.On an overall bases her kids were quite well settled and only her youngest son was to be married.
She had to face another major problem in her life when her son got married in Delhi without taking the consent of the eldest brother,who had educated and had made him self-reliant.Naturally the eldest son who had taken care of his siblings as a father was very disturbed and he blamed Vimla,his mother for letting this marriage take place despite knowing that it would deeply hurt him.Vimla was not aware that he younger son(the second son) was acting as the eldest son of the family and he took all the decisions on behalf of the family after ignoring the fact that he had an elder brother to look up to.
Poor Vimla was caught up in this controversy between two brothers and the elder son was squarely putting the blame on his mother and he felt cheated.It would hurt any brother who takes care of his younger brother just as his son and one fine day he gets married without consulting the brother.Anyways after Vimla sat and talked out about the situation with her with her son,he finally understood that his mother was just present there when the marriage was
Vimla was born into a conservative Indian family.Her father worked in the Railways and she had a reasonably good childhood, with a doting father and loving mother and a large number of brothers and sisters.She had three brothers and six sisters.She lived in that area of India now called Pakistan.The state of Multan was hot and its arid and desert like conditions made life difficult for her, but because she was born into that kind of weather, so it was easy for her to adjust accordingly.
Vimla had a secure childhood though her parents were not too well-off.She enjoyed her childhood days with her siblings and had fond memories of learning how to knit with the help of bicycle rods!She learnt how to knit from an English lady.She thoroughly enjoyed knitting and later in her life she had knitted a lot of woollen clothes for her grandchildren.
She did not have a formal education as girls in those times were not taught in schools.She studied for about four or five years, that is till the primary classes of class two or three. When she was sixteen she got married to strapping, tall and handsome young man from her state.She was glad to get married to such a good man who gave her all the respect and love she required all through her life.
After a few years of marriage she gave birth to a cute little baby boy and after that she had four more kids two daughters and two sons.All in all life was peaceful and going on at its humdrum pace,till things took a sudden change and life became totally different for Vimla and her family.The country was going through some important political changes and due to this there was a partition that took place in the country.The state of Multan came into the part called Pakistan and Vimla’s family were Hindus and so they were required to shift to India.Pakistan was primarily occupied by Muslims.
Vimla had to undergo a life threatening experience when she was travelling from Pakistan to India.She took her three sons and sat in the train along with a few relations and her husband was going to India by air as he was in the RSS a political wing.She was a gutsy woman, who did not flinch at the site of dead bodies strewn all over the streets when she was going to board the train along with her kids.She knew that she walking on razor’s edge and anything could happen to her or her kids.The communal riots were in full swing and she being a hindu, could be targeted any time.Many people hid under big trunks and behind cupboards and there was utter chaos everywhere.Women and kids were killed without a second thought and many women committed suicide rather than being targeted by the muslim men.
It was in these impossible circumstances that Vimla managed to bring her kids to India in the train, where she constantly ducked and hid below the seats to save her kids and herself.It was a very difficult time in her life, as she had to just run for hers and her kids life after leaving the safe abode of her home,so suddenly.When she was in the train she really did not know whether she would reach India alive or no.By God’s grace she was saved and she reached Ludhiana in Punjab and got off the train with her kids and other relatives.Here, after a few days her husband came to fetch her and she went to Delhi with her family.
In Delhi her family was allotted a house in Old Delhi and after the first hitches in settling down in a new place,things slowly became normal and life started all over again.Her husband joined the Airlines as a typewriter(clerk) and he worked very hard and got promotions very promptly.He was a gentle man in every sense and was a constant peacemaker in neighbourhood brawls.He was respected by one and all and people heeded to his advice when required.
Vimla lost her second son to the disease of typhoid and after a few years she gave birth to two daughters and son.When her youngest son was just about six months old another very significant change happened in Vimla’s life.She lost her husband, after he had succumbed to a long bout of jaundice.This was a big blow to her and she was at a complete loss as to how she should bring up her kids all alone,without any financial aid.Although two of her elder sons had been indicted into the Airlines by her husband and there was a source of income,but she was a fiercely self reliant woman and so she started sewing clothes and doing other small jobs to provide for her kids.
Her mother-in-law helped her in these difficult times in a big way by supporting her at every juncture and she took care of every need of her son’s family in a very caring and affectionate manner.Vimla was a very determined and strong-willed woman who did not feel threatened at any juncture of her life.She had full confidence on herself and her abilities and when she faced challenging circumstances with her kids later on,she always knew how to manage herself and bring her kids out of difficult circumstances in no time.She was a pillar of strength for her kids and they looked up to her and respected her immensely as they had lost their father very early on,only when their father was forty-two.
Vimla brought up her kids in the best possible way she could and she got her sons married after the marriages of her daughters.Life took peaceful turn for Vimla and she got busy taking care of her grandchildren who gave her lot of joy.After a few years her son got transferred to another city and he left with his daughter to go to that city.She would now travel to that city and live there for a few months and then live in Delhi alternately.Her daughters were well settled in their families,though her elder daughter did have a few problems initially while settling down in her family.On an overall bases her kids were quite well settled and only her youngest son was to be married.
She had to face another major problem in her life when her son got married in Delhi without taking the consent of the eldest brother,who had educated and had made him self-reliant.Naturally the eldest son who had taken care of his siblings as a father was very disturbed and he blamed Vimla,his mother for letting this marriage take place despite knowing that it would deeply hurt him.Vimla was not aware that he younger son(the second son) was acting as the eldest son of the family and he took all the decisions on behalf of the family after ignoring the fact that he had an elder brother to look up to.
Poor Vimla was caught up in this controversy between two brothers and the elder son was squarely putting the blame on his mother and he felt cheated.It would hurt any brother who takes care of his younger brother just as his son and one fine day he gets married without consulting the brother.Anyways after Vimla sat and talked out about the situation with her with her son,he finally understood that his mother was just present there when the marriage was taking place and she did not have anything in her hand to change the situation or even tell the elder brother of the developments in Delhi.She was blamed in a similar way when another very odd kind of marriage took place in the family and again in this situation too she was a mute spectator,but again she was blamed to be a part of this marriage which took place in-between two cousins.
Vimla had settled down into a life of constant shuttling between the houses of her three sons and she was quite happy with life in general.Her elder daughter-in law was a teacher and she used to help her out with taking care of her three kids,although she was constantly taunted by the younger daughter-in -law that the elder brother used her in their house as a care-taker.See in Indian families jealousy among siblings is very common and when one of the sibling is well-off and the other is not then the jealousy factor usually mars the relationship between the two brothers.
Vimla had aged beautifully and she had seen her grandchildren and was glad to see their kids too.But as time passed her three sons had drifted apart from each other and no matter what she did things were not normalizing between them.She was very disturbed by these prospects and often used to cry softly to herself and she used to confide her feelings to her favourite granddaughter who she adored.
Things took a positive turn on a fateful day,just on the day she expired.She was going through a long phase of sickness and there was celebration planned at her granddaughters place,of course she could not go there due to illness.Her three sons were there and as destiny would have her way they sat on the same table and suddenly got talking and the long drawn silence between them broke and just at that moment I think Vimla breathed her last.The family came to know of her demise after returned home from the function and the whole house was engulfed with a pall of gloom.
Vimla had had her share of good times too, but the long phases of struggle, which she had to face, especially the time after she lost her husband and more significantly the time when she scurrying for her life when she was fleeing Pakistan,had not only transformed her into a gutsy and strong woman but she had set an example for her kids and grandchildren too.
She had deeply affected the psyche of her favourite granddaughter and I am that granddaughter who has given you this account of my grandmother.Her tumultuous life and how she coped up with every challenge in her life has taught me how to face challenges in my life with all my might and when I finally come out of my struggles,victorious, I quietly thank my grandmother for giving me that strength. I have seen her facing her challenges in life with a smiling face and that is the same way I want face the struggles in my entire life.
preetirawal 