Ode to Mei-ieid

Mei-ieid –That’s what I called her. We all addressed her by that name.
It means Mother-of-love.
(In Khasi, Mei means Mother, Ieid means Love).

That’s my grandma for you 

Her essence, her beauty, her charm, her affections, her advices, her reprimands imprinted itself in my mind, carved its way into a big corner of my heart, since the time I was just a gibberish mumbling toddler.

She’d created the fountain of love, built on bricks of goodness, moral values, virtue, hope, peace, forgiveness. She’d lived the maxim ‘When the going gets tough, the tough gets going’.

No wonder her 6 children turned out to be the fine men and women, which they are. Each one has become individuals to reckon with whether in their own families or the society.
Doctors, engineers, lecturers, officers, they’ve become, solely because of how she’d brought them up.

Born to parents that were not too well-off, she learned to climb the ropes of survival at a tender young age. She realized that money doesn’t come easy. One needs to earn it. And that was what made her a responsible, respected, loved, care-giving nurse at one of the first hospitals in Khasi Hills, Shillong.

My memories go as far back as a sight of her in her crispy white uniform, always punctual at work, no compromise on duty, whether day or night. She was a dedicated professional.
Then again I remember her, on a cold winter night, sitting by the coal fire, cooking, after which she then fed me. It could be just plain white rice with a little salt. But when she feeds me, literally, from her hand, I would gobble it up like it was the most appetizing food I had ever tasted. Isn’t there some saying that it’s not what you cook but how much love you put into your cooking, that makes the difference? Well, my Mei-ieid for sure did that.

Mei-ieid departed at a ripe old age of 85 on 2nd May, 2009. She was bed ridden for almost 9 years because of her arthritis.Being taken care of by others, especially by my darling aunt Mei-duh, she never complaint of her discomfort. Rather, she would often smile. Whenever I am back for vacations from college, she always had a smile for me. Initially, she would talk to me about my life in college. But as the years went by, when talking became tiring, she would still be ready with a smile. Just one word, ‘Yet’, in her soft loving voice, followed by her smile and her kiss, was enough (She called me Yet). I am blessed.


Yeah, I could go on about you, Mei-ieid. I could even write your biography.
But you know what your greatest testimony is? It’s the kids you have raised and your grand-children, their scions. They are your legacy and your testimony.
We may not be your perfect example. In-fact, we may be clue-less as to how to fight the good fight. But one thing we all have in common, that binds us together. That is, the values you have instilled and the love of Christ.

They will live on.

Even in your death, you still managed to inspire me.
It’s been 6 months since I wrote anything. Life had been such, Mei-ieid, that my mind, my feelings were blocked. Maybe you whispered into my heart, as your parting gift, and that is why the dams of my heart finally broke open, my mind cleared up, and am writing again.

I am what I am today, because I was nurtured by you.

Thank You. Till we meet again.