Issue 13
Lure
Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta
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Visiting Grandmother
Sitting with her in her little room, opening the windows, watering the plants, straightening the photographs that she has scattered all over the shelf, dusting her table where the staff have only run a desultory cloth over it, smoothing her bedclothes down where they're rumpled -- it isn't the most cheerful way to spend the afternoon.
I arrive, put my bags down on a chair, take out the treats I've brought for her -- homemade candy, a magazine, a length of jute and some colored thread for her embroidery -- and then I rush through all the chores before I start looking at my watch.
And then there's this little game between us, with Grandma looking for ways to make me stay, and me looking for the first moment to escape. 'Let's play checkers,' she'll say brightly, or 'Shall I tell you a story?' But I'm not a child now -- I have children of my own. We sit silently as evening falls around us.
And then it's time, and I drive back slowly in the evening traffic, feeling older every minute. And I wonder when my turn will come, to lure my children, and to watch them drive away.
~Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta
Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta lives and works in Mumbai (Bombay), India. She is currently working on a travel book. Email.
© 2003 by Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta. All Rights Reserved.
© Copyright 2003 by Cayuse Press. All Rights Reserved.