My father vaguely remembers his mother who grew thin and pale over time and was very caring for his children. She rarely moved out of the house and kept panting and rested several times even if she had to pick up a bucket of water from the well nearby. My father, always wanted to help her when he saw her almost falling down under the load of water bucket. Holding the bucket with both hands he used to run and keep the water in the house and run back to hold his mother’s hand and take her into the house. In return, she always gave him a hug and tears used to come down her eyes. My father took this affection as his trophy and always tried to keep close to her, always wanting some more affection from her. My father’s house in the village was having four mud rooms and a kitchen. The floor was done with cow-dung and mud in the morning and his mother used to offer prayers and water to the “Tulsi” plant in the courtyard daily morning. My father never saw his mother sleep. By the time he used to open his eyes in the morning, she would have had taken bath and would be busy working in the kitchen, boiling milk for my father and his younger sister Chandra. My grandfather, although an early raiser, did not like working in fields unlike rest of the men folks. His passion was mainly in body building and wrestling. He worked hard to maintain his body right from morning and soaked his body in mustard oil before taking bath. A twig of Neem served as toothbrush and paste. Alternate to this toothbrush was pointing finger which people used to dip in a paste of salt and mustard oil. There was no other toothpaste which was known to the villagers and ever sold in the village shop. It was a routine for him to spend hours caring for his body and ensured that he completed at-least five hundred sit ups before going for bath.

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