The environment was a bit tense that night at the ‘Mann house’. The arguments over inter-religious marriage had the house divided. Amidst the argument, Jassi stepped in and said, “He’s found someone who loves him. What else do you need? If we marry him to someone whom he doesn’t love, he will end up in an empty marriage. We live in the 21st century. It’s time we adapt and get to know other cultures. I am sure Anna too would love to know ours.”
“Of course dadi, I too come from a family where my parents are from different countries and cultures”, Anna stepped in.
“That’s it. What else is left to discuss?”, she asked looking at her son.
“But bebe…” as he began to speak, Jassi cut him, “Enough. I have made my decision. Let’s start the preparations for the wedding. Contact her parents and fix a date. We’ll do a big fat Punjabi wedding in India and a Christian one in Germany.”
8 months later…
That morning, Jassi found it hard to wake up. She felt dizzy, but she knew she had to power through. This batch of boondi ke laddoo was going to be extra special. After all, it was the wedding day of her only grandson.
As she watched the madly-in-love couple get married in the Gurudwara, all those memories flashed in front of her eyes. Having immigrated from Pakistan during the partition, they had nothing but each other. Just separated from their families. Jasminder, fondly known as Jassi dadi by everyone was very fond of sweets as a kid. She learned to make various types of laddoos from her grandmother. So when they started a new life in India, she refused to sit idle and started catering laddoos for various functions. Her husband too would wake up early in the morning and help her with the prep before leaving for work.
Jassi had started a small sweet shop three decades back with her husband. As time passed, their small-scale business turned into a big shop in Delhi. It’s been 15 years since her husband passed away, yet still, she would wake up at 5 am, go to the shop and make the first batch of boondi ke laddoo, offer one to the god, take half a bite of the laddoo and get on with the day.
“Dadi… kahan kho gaye?”, said Avi as he came along with Anna to take her blessings. “Arre, kuch nahi”, she snapped out. Teary-eyed, Jassi kissed both of them on their forehead and blessed them, “Ji’ūndē Raho!” and fed them the laddoos.
“What happened dadi? You look a little weak,” Avi asked her.
“Arre don’t worry! I am absolutely fine. Now go on… take blessings from others,” she nudged them.
The week-long festivities flew by in the wink of an eye. It was time for the just-married couple to leave for Munich. Before leaving, Avinash wrapped his hand around Jassi and gave her a tight hug. She gave him her blessings, wiped her tears, and took out a small box from her kurta’s pocket, “Yeh le, raaste ke liye,” and gave him the box.
He hugged her again (this time tears rolled down his cheek) and bid her goodbye.
That night, before going to bed Jassi took one laddoo from the box and went towards her husband’s photo. She raised the laddoo as if she was saying cheers, “My work here is done. I am on my way”.
She took half a bite of the laddoo and went to bed. She slept peacefully, looking like an angel.