In the last few years, she completely stopped thinking about other people; her focus shifted solely to her family. Once, while I was complaining about how kids consume our lives entirely, she smiled and remarked that it doesn't get any better because you begin to worry about your kids' spouses and their children. Every night, Amma would call all of us to bid us goodnight. My parents lived with Seema, my second sister, in Bangalore, and sometimes Amma would leave her a voice message too. We used to joke that Amma was sending a message across the room to my sister and her kids.
I am grateful to Aadya and Abhinav (my nieces and nephew) for teaching her the voice message option on WhatsApp. My darling Amma used it to the fullest. I think the WhatsApp creators surely had my Amma in mind. She loved the option of using video calls whenever possible, often questioning why she couldn't see me if I dared to opt for an audio call.
I will miss these audio messages the most. My mornings will never be the same without her voice messages, and I don't even know how I will drive to work without our day-to-day exchanges. All the details of her day, including food, breakfast, meals, her phone calls to other people, conversations with household helpers, details of her evening meet with the ladies in the colony, romance or arguments with my dad – I used to get firsthand news. Now, to think of it, I am not only deprived of her love but also of the whole world she inhabited.
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