This is a poem dedicated to my maternal grandfather. Here is the content:

There are many kinds of love

Romantic love, the most popular

And probably the most overrated as well

Platonic love, not as popular

But far more enduring

And then comes the most important form of love

Family love

Again, there are different kinds of family love

Parental, sibling love

And then comes a rather underrated form of love

Love showered on you by your grandparents

And vice-versa

Today I will speak about my grandfather in particular

My earliest memory of Thatha

Is of him holding me

When I was a small kid

While he stood in front of the coach

Of the train in which we were travelling to Tirupati

I don’t remember much about the trip

But I do remember one thing

The smile on Thatha’s face as he held me

Which spoke volumes

About the love and affection he had for me

And continues to have, to this day

Thatha, once he starts talking

Is simply unstoppable

He drones on and on

Like Professor Binns

The ghost who teaches History of Magic at Hogwarts

However, his knowledge is incomparable

Whether it be about Indian Railways

Where he had worked for three years

Or cricket, which he watches with the enthusiasm of a child

Or animals, especially wild animals

And finally

Current affairs and politics

Of course, we had our fair share of arguments

Whenever Indian politics came up for discussion

And I regret to say

That I lost my temper quite a few times

But Thatha patiently bore it all

In fact, he and Patti were exceedingly patient

In putting up with my mood swings and outbursts

During a particularly turbulent phase of my life

Thatha has never failed to give me sound advice

Which has proved invaluable on many occasions

And his expertise in mathematics

Made the subject easier for me to tackle

Particularly during my tenth boards

As a railfan, I am crazy about train trips

But they are even more fun

When you are with Thatha

Thanks to his knowledge and enthusiasm for the Railways

And as far as cricket is concerned

Thatha can be really hilarious at times

For instance, suggesting that Rashid Khan should be part of the Indian team!!

There are a lot more things I can say about Thatha

But I think that’s all for today