Valiamma...

Today's post is dedicated to the person who makes it possible for me to sit here and earn my bread, write this and moreover, ensures that i do not have to worry about V while we are away.
All credit to my mom ( i think she should be a consultant) for zeroing in on her when i was expecting V. All i had to tell her was i need someone who lives with me to take care of V and be with him.

I have met her several times over i my life ,every year she worked around the house during harvest season, later with her daughter in law in tow. When i met her as V's caretaker, i wasn't too sure whether she fit my idea of a "nanny". But she was there and i needed someone.
She met V for the first time when he was 70 days old...and moved in with us when he was about 100 days old....and been with us since then. She is 65( maybe more..but even she has no idea...so we will stick to that number), a very small kid at heart, and V thinks the world of her. She has gone from being V's nanny to practically running our house.
She had never stepped beyond the confines of the tiny hamlet where i( she) come from, never travelled in a long distance train , never heard another language, and never left her family before...

Today, she has done more flights than my immediate family, lived in two metros in India, has made friends ( and continues to do so) who speak langauges varying from Hindi to telegu to Marathi to english. Please note here that the only language she has even known in her life is none of the above. Her english is restricted to "please" and " thank you" which V has been teaching her. Add to that the fact that coming in from a family that did not have an electricity connection till a year ago, she runs all the appliances at my home..

Over the last three years she has become V's friend and not just his nanny. They fight, make up, laugh, cry and have these very inane conversations which are so funny to listen to. V knows he can get away with murder with her...so he gets double the ration of jellies, extra spoons of honey, secret licks at the chocolate and a place to hide whenever i lose my temper...
She cries when V is not well...goes without food when he does not eat and puts him before her, in everything. She even cried when i fell ill!!!

I may not tell her everyday, but i am just grateful to have her around, and can't thank her enough. She may not be with us for ever( how i wish she did), she will never read this post, but i guess i just had to write her a Thank you. For being there, for being the person she is , for taking on TB , me and V as her family , and for living through my many moods. Thank you!


PS: She is my news source for all the gossip in our building..how does she figure all that news out when she does not understand one word of the language? Beats me!