My grandmother's influence in my life…

There are two sides to my personality, the ambitious side that is driven to stand out and make a difference in the world, and the private side, which is shy, introverted, and socially awkward. Some words about my private side, and the influence of the most important person in my life Time Capsule: I had the rare opportunity - my grandmother. As a child to spend hundreds of hours with my Grandmother, Sama Kaur. Together we explored the Hills and Tibbas near our village Kharkari Makhwan ,Bhiwani, Haryana, collecting herbs, grazinging our cattles , and watching wildlife. .Grandma Sama Kaur taught me about native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired me ever since. She also sparked my interest in survival skills. I was born in Puna, Maharastra in 1952 to CH Surajmal and Savitri, the eldest of five kids. As a child, our family traveled back to our native village Kharkari Makhwan , Bhiwani, Haryana every summer to be close to the extended family. I spent most of that time with my grandma Sama Kaur. She lived outside of Kharkari village, in a Manison along green fields, or "Charies," (adjacent fields)as we called it. Grandma Sama Kaur cooked on an antique, wood-fired cooks-tove colloquially known as chulhaa in Haryana,India. Every day she chopped and hauled fire-wood (jandi tree), cut them in small pieces with her hand, filled the corner of Manison’s small kitchen, and started the fire to cook, previously we did’nt have any kitchen in our Manison. Later my father built a small kitchen between one of the Baarjaa (Balcony)of our MansionVaranda. The cookstove didn't hold a fire for long, so every meal began with the ritual of crumpling Bhushaa(dried grass,bui,khrsana,daab etc), laying in the corner of small kitchen corner , and lighting it with hot cow-dung cake. She didn't use any axe to cut small pieces of fire-wood.ie jandi twigs; she used her hands, to cut dried pruned jandi tree into small pieces…………Grandma SmaaKaur also made tea in the dawn. She made real tea using Asaam,s Tea leaves (unprocessed)my father used to brought for her in bulk (bagfull of kattaie jute bags) and very concenterated milk of our data- singi (very big horns) and big udder buffalloe . She made tea that started with our walks though the charris and the woods along tibba slope adjusant r our Mansion to defecate . The walks were important to her, probably more important than anything else, and I cannot recall more than a few rare occasions that she didn't go walking. Along the way, we often picked herbs for tea - herbs such as Tulsi, lemon grass , blue violets, red clover, or rose hips and some other…I did’nt recall now will write later on . We brought these herbs home and dried them on malmal cloth(muslin), then stored them in terra- cotta handies /kulhadis (terra-cota pots ) in the obra (inner room). She had an amazing collection of herbs, and I don't think she ever started the kitchen fire in the morning without also making a pot of herbal tea. I grew up on Grandma's tea. ...... rest is in the next....... xoxo