From the framed picture hung on the wall Two faces look nobly down The faces of my grandma and grandpa Taking me to the times gone by
Smiling at their wavering progeny, They retell the saga of their blissful life A life of selfless share and care Inspiring generations in their travail
Curling back to times and climes primeval I hear the sound of their footfalls aloud In a humble dwelling, joyfully they lived As children of the soil with hands full of toil
They worked together from dawn to dusk Greeting every new dawn with fresher zeal Their hearts were securely fastened in love And had needs minimum and complaints nil
Two fountains that sprang from sources different Had merged together before their early teens Through wedlock they had been customarily bound At a time when they hardly knew what it meant
Had played together as buddies for long Until instinct made them man and wife When fledglings were hatched in their little nest They worked together never knowing rest
Hit by adversities hard, at times they sank very low But with resilience, bounced back And frugally saved every nickel and dime To meet the needs of their growing household
They tottered together in the evening of their life Serving as prop to each other when about to fall In their twilight years, ambling the corridors of memory They reminisced sweetly the joyful events of life
Now they lie together in the same churchyard Two streams that evenly and tranquilly ran side by side Never once been shattered on the rocks and shoals of life Making one wonder if their life is History or Fable
In the swelling magnitude of our life Though trivial was their share Yet they stay as beacons of light Leaving a trail of light to blaze our paths
A century back, child marriage was so common in India. My grandma was only nine and my grandpa was hardly 12 when they got married. They were children of the same neighborhood. They lived long and were happy together fighting with the soil and staying solid through the joys and sorrows of life. Life was not easy for them. There was not even electricity. They were ready to adjust to the hostile circumstances.....!