The Uber Paaji and the Grandmama's Aaji!

 Today I will take you all through two consecutive days in my life that I initially hoped and wished to never come because of the practical exam and offline viva after the lock down. But life had something else planned, more than just the viva. On 4th May 2022 I woke up early, got ready and was dropped at the station. But when I was on the overhead bridge of the railway station an announcement said that all the local trains of the route I wanted to go were canceled due to some issue on the way. For a minute I was so happy that now I don't have to give the viva, but then the whole class does not live on this route and reality hit hard, called my friend and finally decided to take a cab. So from my friend's place we took a cab. It was Uber and a Paaji (Punjabi Gentlemen) was driving it. 

We all sat and were discussing exams, our preparations and all about vivas. Then we all glued our eyes in our books and notes and fell silent. Paaji who initially was quiet, suddenly started talking about his sons, that they did 12th from here and then went to Pune to get into NDA, his younger son got selected but the elder one did not. All of us felt bad for his elder son, but then the story does not end here, it actually starts here. His elder son did MBBS from Pune and came back home, and within a few days saw an advertisement in the newspaper looking for doctors in the navy and applied, wrote exams and passed. So now his younger son is a pilot in the army and the elder one is a doctor in the navy. I was shocked beyond words. All I asked after this was whether Paaji himself was in the army, but he said he wasn't.

 

And that's when I realized that no matter what you keep trying, sometimes you will get what you want all at once  and sometimes after a long wait but only if you keep your spirit up and keep looking for it! Paaji really taught us a lot of lessons of a lifetime, this story otherwise looks like a complete dreamy fairy tale with a happy ending and just out of movie but it was for real and we heard it first hand from the one who actually saw it.

 

Thus moral of the story though there are many but sometimes some trains should be missed so that you can take a cab and listen to some really inspiring real hero stories. 

The very next day was the last viva and post that I went to the famous Grandmama's Cafe. A very aesthetically decorated space that gives calm and soothing vibes. But more than the decor, food, service and ambience what surprised me was the Aaji (grandmother in marathi). So around lunch time a joint family of parents, 2 kids and grandpa and grandma walked in and sat on the table near the entrance. At first I was startled to  see grandparents at the cafe, but then I thought maybe they would have come to give company to their grand kids. When I was about to leave, I just thought I should see the entire cafe just out of curiosity and what I saw was amazing as the Aaji was having pesto pasta at Grandmama's, what a delightful view to see at Grandmama's , an Aaji having pasta! I don't know why they named the cafe that way but what I saw made me believe why it was named so.

 

Thus the two days that I thought would be the worst days turned out to be like a blessing in disguise, The Uber Paaji and the Grandmama's Aaji made my week!

 - Siddhi Bhosale

 Stay tuned until next time toodles! 

Illustration by: Kashish Singh.