BLOSSOMING TO A FLOWER

PUSHPALATHA. P. K.

Copyright © Pushpalatha. P. K. All Rights Reserved. This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. While every effort has been made to avoid any mistake or omission, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that neither the author nor the publishers or printers would be liable in any manner to any person by reason of any mistake or omission in this publication or for any action taken or omitted to be taken or advice rendered or accepted on the basis of this work. For any defect in printing or binding the publishers will be liable only to replace the defective copy by another copy of this work then available.

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO YOU. May the book open up a new world of positive thinking and attitude, of believing in yourself and an understanding that every individual is unique, so you accept people as they are. Every individual has their own map of the world in their mind. Whatever is going to happen will happen to you. If you don’t have any control of it, just leave it to the universe. Every problem has its solution; you have to just tap into it. This book brings you the belief that there is enough for everybody’s success in this world. To maintain good relationships, it’s crucial that you accept a person as they are. You cannot change anybody, but you can change yourself. Have a positive attitude towards everything. Be grateful. Try to find the good things in others and be grateful for that.

Contents Thanks And Gratitude

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Part 1 1. Our Two Dogs, Blacky And Tyson

3

2. Story Of The Two Neighboring Pets, Roxy And 11 Tyson 3. Stories About Snakes

17

4. My Jaundice Story

20

5. Keep Secrets Until The Appropriate Time

24

6. My Spiritual Journey

30

7. The 13th Child

32

8. First And Last Letter To Meemi

35

9. My Dry Fish Story

40

10. The Family Accident In Kerala

42

11. My Beautiful Payal/anklet

44

12. I Am Blessed To Have Good Friends

46

13. Corona Dreams, Imagination, Visualizations,

49

Fear, Solution, Searches, Etc. 14. Reading Habits In My Childhood

56

15. The Person Who Taught Me The Joy Of Gifting 62 In My Childhood 16. Dreams

64

17. A Tribute To My Teachers And Sweet Memories 70 Of Them Matches Made During Corona And Marriage Conducted

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Contents During The Delta Wave (Ayaan And Aanya’s Marriage) 18. How Vasudevan And I Met Aanya

79

19. How To Make Your Sons Understand That

84

Ladies Aren’t Only Meant To Cook At Home 20. Matches Made During Corona

94

21. Marriage Day

96

22. Home Welcome For The Bride

100

23. Staying At The Reception Venue

101

24. Shopaholic On The Road

108

25. Reception Day

110

26. Conclusion

115

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Thanks And Gratitude I want to have my own identity. I am the wife of Vasudevan, mother of Vishnu and Ayaan, mother-in-law of Riana and Aanya, grandma of Karthik, daughter of the late Krishnan and Visalakshi, sister of Vinay and Jai, pushpechi of Sandhya Chechi and Neetu, mema of Ananya, Akshay, Aashvi, Aarav, Apoorva, Unnie Lakshmi, and all in all, Pushpa of my meemy. I am so happy and thankful for all these relations. I am so happy and blessed to have late Achuthan T my fatherin-law, Parukkuty Amma, my mother-in-law, Eadathy/ chechi, Nirmala, Vanitha, my three sisters-in-law, Eatten and Eadathyamma - Vasudevan’s brother and his wife, Shankaranarayana Eattan, Rajettan, Monettan -my thsistersster in law’s husbands. Pushpa aunty for Shyamlimy elder sister in law’s daughter, her husband and son, Surya and Nisha- Vanitha’s daughters, Varun and Vishal Nirmala’s sons, Varun’s wife Disha their daughter, Vishal’s wife Nitya, Kunjamma for Praveen and Priyansh -Vasudevan’s brother’s sons, Praveen’s wife Aditi, their two children, Priyansh’s wife Anisha and their son. Surya inspired me to write this. Last last year, in midJanuary 2020, my husband and I went to her house. She looked me in the eyes and asked me, “Pushpa Aunty, are you a writer?” I asked her, “Why do you ask?” She replied, “I feel like the sparkle in your eyes, and your attitude resembles like a writer.” I told her, “I’ve enjoyed writing since childhood. I’d lie down and write my day-to-day experiences in letters every day and send them to my parents when I was in the hostel. Once I penned it down, I’d feel relaxed. I will definitely start writing one day if you’d like.” So, thank you, Surya.

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THANKS AND GRATITUDE

Another person from the apartment came to our house by accident. He introduced himself and his wife as the owners of some big company. He also told me if I’d write something, he’d help me publish it. I said, “Someone offered me this earlier also. So, I am thankful to you, sir.” Even before that, one of my colleagues, the late Rashmi Singhania, told to me I should write something. She was the first person (who happened to be an English teacher) who told me she’d do the editing. Thank you, Rashmi ma’am…wherever you are. I can write a whole book about you. But not now. Aashna and Rashmi mam taught me to type on the laptop, starting with ‘a, b, c, d.” Thanks, Aashna and Rashmi ma’am. Without your help, I may not have been able to do this. A colleague of mine, Poonam Mishra, told me, “Ma’am, you are not made only for teaching or cooking. Your purpose in this world is something else. Please find it out and do it.” So, I thought about it. I didn’t know my life’s purpose. While attending a seminar during the Corona days, my trainer told me, “Ma’am, your soul is blessed. Before leaving this world, give back something to the society.” I think that my purpose in this world is to be happy and make others happy by helping them change themselves through conscious awareness. Anybody can change any day—maybe through one incident, some words, quotes or reading some books. I hope some people will enjoy the life experiences I’ve written in this, my first book, from my childhood to my resignation as a teacher. In this book, I have written about my childhood memories, adulthood memories, marriage memories, the day my husband and I met and some family incidents. Since childhood, I’ve considered myself a positive person. As per

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that, I have written the book. My readers might be thinking, if I’m positive, then why do I show negative feelings? Well, we are human beings, after all. We are not gods and goddesses. But with conscious efforts, we can change our thinking, habits, thought process, luck and destiny. All those things will be in my next book. The thing is that you can change yourself. You cannot change others. You accept them as they are.

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CHAPTER I

Our Two Dogs, Blacky and Tyson One day during my summer vacation, around 2:30 p.m., I went to the washroom. Suddenly the calling bell rang. I yelled out, “I am coming,” and the bell rang again. “I’ll be there in a minute,” I yelled again. On my way to the door, I told Tyson, “Why can’t you bark if somebody is at the door?” (Tyson is going to be six years on 11th November 2022). The maid was at the door. She said that our Tyson only barks when our next-door neighbor’s dog Roxy comes out of her house. Dog—if you reverse the letters, it’s God. So, showing love towards a dog is equivalent to loving gods. People used to say that in an angry mood, in place of bringing up, you I could have brought up a dog at least it will show some affection and love towards me as per the movie language. We have a dog now. His name is Tyson. He is a rottweiler. He came to our house on a Deepawali day when he was just one month old. When he came to our house, I wore the Lakshmi mala and the gold jewelry to welcome him like a new member of the house. I held him and lit up the Diwali lamp. He is our lucky champ. He was just 1.8 kgs that time. My husband weighed him in a small plastic bag. We fed him milk and Cerelac for two to three months. Then, we bought the pedigree worth Rs. 1750 per kg for another six months, all different flavors. We got a dog trainer (worth Rs. 4,000), and Tyson learned only one word—sit. Another trainer him ‘No.’ That trained only showed up once. Then, he never turned up.

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BLOSSOMING TO A FLOWER

During the initial days, Tyson would be alone from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.. We made him a bed on the floor in between the sofas. After one or two weeks, when I came back from school at 3 p.m., I couldn’t find him. I called out his name, “Tyson, mere pachdu.” I found him hiding in between the curtains. That day onwards, he never lay in between the sofas. When my husband and I would go to work, the whole house belonged to Tyson. He was free to do whatever he wanted. The legs of our bed, the center table, double bed, computer table legs—everything—he used for his teething problems. Then we tried tying him on the bed legs. He’d pull the bed whichever side he wanted. We kept him inside for a whole year. My husband calculated the cost of furniture Tyson spoiled with his teeth—Rs. 1.5 lakhs approximately. He’d even buy the more expensive pedigree for him (not to mention all the injections we had to give him). During the travel he used to sit on my lap when he was small. When my husband and I went to China for one week, our driver told us that he’d take care of Tyson. We thought he’d be okay, but after one week, when we came back, and the driver brought Tyson to our house, he couldn’t recognize us. He just lay down on the floor. He did not eat anything for two days. There were scars on his belly and legs. When we were in China, our elder son Vishnu called us and told Tyson had broken his TV while playing with hm. He used to take him to the paddy fields and bathe him almost every day in tube well pumps in the fields. When we returned, Tyson had a fever. After we gave him some medicine, he was alright. Tyson was closest to our younger son Ayaan. We bought Tyson during the time Ayaan was pursuing his postgraduation course. He was in a hostel. Our elder son Vishnu 4

PUSHPALATHA. P. K.

was not staying with us. Whenever we’d go out anywhere, our younger son took Tyson along with him to his hostel or to his friend’s house. So, Tyson became friends with his friends. After completing his post-graduation, he worked in Delhi for four months and moved to Maharashtra. Our elder son moved from Maharashtra to Telangana. So, it was difficult for my husband and I to handle Tyson together. Once Tyson started biting the furniture, we put him outside the house, in the balcony, till we returned from work. When our son got into an accident, I was sitting on the sofa. Tears were streaming from my eyes. Tyson came to me and licked my tears and face for a long time until my friends arrived. That will be a lifelong memory for me. Those days, when we went out somewhere, our younger son would come and stay in the house and take Tyson along with him. Now, we no longer have that problem because I have resigned from my job, and my husband has retired as well and is doing his own business. Tyson came to our house after the demise of our last dog Blacky. The day Blacky left us, I informed Vishnu that when I came from school, I saw Blacky laying in his own stool. He was already paralyzed for many days, he was looking into my eyes and as if he was asking to me like this mummy why you are making my life this much shameful and painful, Whatever the possible things you have done towards my life. Why can’t you give me a peaceful death? The doctor suggested a mercy killing. We were not in favor of that. But that day our maid and my son cleaned Blacky, and we took him in a quilt and put him in our golden color Maruti 800 car. Blacky went on his final journey. My son was driving the car on the way, he was not able to stop the car on reaching the red light then he came to know that the car’s brakes failed. Suddenly Blacky pushed the seat with 5

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