On your busiest days at work, she in her 70s, calls & asks you to immediately place an article in paper against the twists & endings of the Ekta Kapoor’s serials, she is currently watching & didn’t agree with. (Thanks to her understanding of my PR job) 

In her 80s, you offer her a Pepsi & she looks down on your hospitality. The drink doesn’t have enough ice-cubes. Snacks & savouries served without sauce & chutney are promptly returned to rectify your overlookings. You take her shopping & she dismisses the variety offered in comparison to that in the international malls she visited. Be it jewellery, sarees, suits, handbags or footwear, she had to have the best & kept a close eye on what we grandkids are wearing & using. During her stays, creams & moisturisers had to be shared in generous measures as wrinkled skin was a taboo to be seen in. Always in the party mode; outings & family reunions brought in a mischievous glee; loved to talk, gossip & laugh with all generations of her family. She’s “Nani on Wheels”- ever ready to pack her suitcase & travel. Flew to Hyderabad at age of 87. A die-hard foodie- a hard core non-vegetarian who also gorged on mangoes & mithais. Her purse always had a few chocolates tucked in. My kids shared their lollipop with her. That’s my nani for you & yes, she lived her life to the fullest.

Until Dementia struck her. In recent past, though I had to introduce myself a couple of times, in every call she asked me to come down & see her. I couldn’t as much I wanted to. That’s one regret I have to live with. Her voice calling my name out just doesn’t stop ringing in my ears.

The only thing which my nani couldn’t do in her lifetime was to go on a solo trip. At age of 90, she did that too. She took a piece of my heart & left me last week for the heavens.
If there is one thing I know about heavens, it is now a happening place.