ever, I am still in my final year of graduation, and my grandma wants me to join for the IAS coaching this year itself. these coaching classes changed my daily routines completely. my days are filled with attending IAS classes, going to the library, and cooking meals for myself, that’s it no funny, no meeting my friends as often as I used to be before.

It’s taking so much time to grasp the topics in world geography and Indian History. I decided to focus more on my IAS preparation, though I am coming in the top 10 in weekly tests, but that’s not enough. I felt i lack some consistency. so I just put the full stop for a few things. my love life is one among many things I wanted to stay away for a while, at least till I crack upsc.

while I became determined and leading my days so organized one day my inter-college roommate called me at late night. his voice was super tense, and he asked me if I knew anybody from siddhartha medical college in vijayawada. I said, “yes, I have many friends there, but first calm down, ajay tell me what happened, is anything serious?

Ajay said, “yeah, you know my grandmother. she fell in the bathroom suddenly, maybe cardiac arrest or something we don’t know my grandfather called my dad now, and my grandfather was so tensed seeing her in like that I don’t think he can handle the situation in the hospital, they went to siddhartha medical college hospital, can you please go and help him with joining formalities and asertain the condition of her to me?

I replied ” you don’t worry much, I will take care. i already told you I have batchmates in that college, if any of them not available right now, I will go myself to the hospital, so be better calm down”

He said, “thank you, and I will share my grandfather’s number with you.”

I called my best friend tejaswini, who is studying at that medical college and informed her about this. she just took care of everything and said to me that I no need to attend the hospital right now. anyhow I prepared for my upcoming exams all day though I wanted to go and attend personally at that time but after listing to assuring words of tejaswini I slept listening to thanking words from ajay on the phone that night.

The next day morning, while I was going to my IAS institute, I stopped at the traffic signal leading to the hospital, so I thought, why not greet ajay’s grandmother once in the hospital since ajay and his family had not yet reached the hospital. 

Ajay’s family used to be in Vijayawada, but his father got transfer few years back, so they shifted to Hyderabad, but Ajay’s grandparents resisted leaving their own house. probably they had an emotional bond with that house. they decided to continue staying here alone in that old age also.

I even talked to ajay’s grandmother a few times over the phone previously, when we were sharing the same room in the intermediate hostel. I have never seen her in person, but I tasted every sweet she sent for ajay while he was in the hostel, so why not greet her when she is in hospital?

so I went straight to the hospital ward and enquired about narayanamma, who was admitted yesterday. one ward’s nurse pointed her finger at one lady sleeping on the bed. I went to that bed, and I asked her, “how are you, grandma?”

she replied with a smile, ” sll good, and thanks for asking. after a little pause, she continued “by the way who are you?”

while me and that grandmother were talking, my friend tejaswini who helped me last night and her friend came to that place. that girl who came along with tejaswini said, ” hello Mr intellegent IAS, she is not your friends’s grandmother, she is S.narayanamma, there in the second bed left corner is your Ajay’s grandmother R.narayanamma.”

due to that lazy ward nurse, a mistake happened I greeted the wrong person.

After that doctor told me this, they both smiled, no, not smiled, to be precise, they laughed at my face super loud.

In that confused, embraced condition. I left the wrong narayannamma and went to ajay’s grandmother. I greeted her, and repeated the same questions I asked before and she replied all good. I told tejaswini to take good care since she and her friend are in that patient care postings that day.

while returning, I thought that the wrong narayannamma was probably felt bad for my actions, so I said sorry and said like ” narayanamma name more suited you for your happy face actually” she smiled at me, I took it as she accepted my appologies.

I asked teja about what the health issue was with that wrong narayanamma. she said, “wrong narayanama is suffering from non-hodgkin lymphoma (a type of cancer that begins in the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting immune system. In non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, white blood cells called lymphocytes grow abnormally and can form growths (tumours) throughout the body).

In simple terms, she has cancer that too in critical stages. one of my professors told us in the first year that “do say long words to patients when you can’t say that they are on your death bed directly. so my friend did that same trick now. I felt super bad about her but was amazed by the smile on her face in these bad days of her.

After coming to institute from the hospital, I sat in the library focusing on my next week’s political science exam, and I started thinking about that girl who smiled at me in the hospital. though I saw her the first time there, I felt like I had seen her many times, a super familiar face. No this is not that my regular dreamy romantic dialogue, but I am sure of I have seen her before.

But I am unable to recollect where. so I went through my Instagram, and started searching my follower list. she is not even there. then I recollected it; I went to karthik’s Instagram account. she is on his friend’s list. so she is the girl who my friend karthik showed me in the past many times and said she is shardda kapor of our siddartha medical College.

I remember saying to him, ” no way, they don’t have any similarities except that teeth on teeth, you really became a great fan of shradhha and started seeing her in every girl ” I still remember sending her a friend request on Instagram after that conversation. (ya, I do send friend requests when I find them interesting with out even knowing them in person sometimes)

she didn’t accept my request back then, I checked it a few times later, but I totally forgot about that. and now she is the same girl who knows my name and what all I do, but still didn’t accept my friend request, how can she be that cruel, while thinking about all this I slept for some time in the library itself.

but after yesterday episode, after that loud smile of her at me. I was a little curious and more interested in talking with that girl. so I decided to go medical college next day also, by the way I can greet ajay’s grandmother once again if I go (I know this is just a reason to see her again)

I greeted real ajay’s grandmother and that wrong narayanamma also, she greeted me back with the same amazing smile from a distance. my girl is not in the ward, so to wait for some time in the hospital, I sat beside the wrong narayannamma because ajay’s grandmother was sleeping. 

I said the wrong narayanamma. “I am sorry, that day I was really confused, and when I looked at you from the entrance you started smiling and welcoming at me, so I thought you were my friend’s grandmother, probably you saw me in some pictures or when you came to our hostel.

S.narayanamma “you look like my younger son who died at an early age due to an accident, and he too has super black eyes with thick eyelashes.”

she continued saying a few more things about her family, though I was not interested in listening to those things at the first, but she was telling things in a really affectionate way. slowly I found a little connection with her. she told me she had three children, 2 sons and 1 daughter. one son and daughter both are settled in the USA, and remaining son in heaven. 

She said they are natively from bhimavaram town, but her daughter joined in this hospital for better treatment.

I just sat there listening to all these things and waiting for that girl who teased me yesterday. I have seen sharddha walking in the corridor. I went to her telling this old lady I would come back.

Me ” hello miss shraddha kapoor of siddharth medical college, I sent you a friend request on Instagram two times, but you didn’t accept.”

sharda ” not two, three times you sent me a request. by the way, why should I accept your request? i don’t know you and we are complete strangers, right?

me ” Ya, but two years back, Teja and me are also strangers, but now we are good friends, so there is no concept in the universe like complete strangers actually miss, we meet new friends as strangers now and then.

Shraddha” First of all, call me madam, not shraddha. I am your senior.

Me “we are not from the same college, if I go further I even discontinued my medical college so why should I call you madam? If that is the case, I will call you shraddha madam. however, this is not flirting, and I am just curious to know why you didn’t accept my request. that’s it”

she replied ‘nice logic, but use all this knowledge in cracking IAS in your first attempt, not to flirt with girls.

Shraddha “I know your flirting things, now you are dealing with this as you dealt with that girl in your two flags love story, maybe 3rd or 4th love story on your blog.

Me ” so, you read my blog also.”

shraddha ” no way, I just saw your friend request, and went through your Instagram account. I felt its interesting because your blog is not about any particular thing and moreover because of your love stories and other things in it. most people hide their stories, and their mistakes or they will write those stories as someone else stories anonymously just because most people are afraid to be judged by others. I really like someone writing things in quite a realistic tone, not all roses and happy endings. i was really connected to that revathi akka in your life.”

Me ” this is so cruel. you read all my stories in detail, and yet you didn’t accept my request.”

shraddha ” nah, I only read that one story my friend shared with me. she pointed towards another girl in the ward.

that other girl replied, ” no, no, don’t believe her, she only shared few write-ups to me to read, she read everything you post if you can conduct a test on content in your blog, probably she would top that test. she is the one who shared in our hostel rooms, and she started teasing shraddha so much.

me” I was silently blushing inside, coming out of the hospital with a happy face.

The next day too, I went to the hospital to see shraddha (actually, I am the type of person once I start doing something. I forget everything, even my upcoming political science exam, and I said to myself I do a night out and complete the syllabus.)

shraddha was not there in the wards that day too. so as usual, I was waiting for her to come. this time ajay’s grandmother was awake, so I sat beside her, but I could clearly see another narayanamma from far looking and smiling at me. I waited for more than a half-hour. I felt hungry. I opened my lunch box and started eating rice with mutton curry, which I prepared for myself that day. s.narayanamma looked at me from a distance. so Just for the formality’s sake, I gestured to her that do you want to eat what I am eating?. she gestured back by nodding her head yes yes.

what? okay, no problem, maybe she got bored with the hospital canteen food, and she wanted to taste my food, so I offered her some rice and mutton curry on my lunch box plate.

First, she ate peacefully but later started complaining about my food; she asked, ” who cooked this, no salt, no masala?”

I replied, “me, myself and i.”

S.narayanamma ” hoo really, do you know cooking too, your wife gonna be super lucky?”

me ” yes, is this like your bhimavaram mutton curry?”

S Narayanamma “no way, our bhimavaram recipes are more spicier and with more gravy type. that’s gonna be more delicious than present dish you made today.

she continued saying “you too can try that next time, and it’s simple. by the way, that girl you see every day here in the hospital is also from bhimavaram. that girl also sees you secretly until you exit our ward gate for your information” said those last lines very slowly like a secret to me, I felt it cute.

I blushed and replied, “really? then tell me how to do that mutton curry with simple steps and ingredients, I will impress both of you at a time with one single dish”

she said everything in a super detailed way. after a few days, I tried exactly how she instructed me to do that mutton curry in her own way, and it came super perfect.

I stopped going to the hospital for a while since my friends family came back to vijayawada to look after the original narayanamma. but one day, I couldn’t stop myself from going to the hospital, I had box full of hot mutton curry in my college bag. so, I thought, why not go to the hospital and share some this dish with S.narayanamma and ask her how I made it”

I searched for S.narayanamma in the general wards, casualty, and even in the ICU. then I called my friend in that college tejwaswini and enquired about her.

she replied, “S.narayanamma died two days back.”

I was super shocked to listen to that, and I can still remember her amazing pure smile. It means a lot to smile like that by knowing that you are probably dying soon.

I came to the institute with a heavy heart, not feeling like eating anything during the lunch hour, so I gave lunch box i have in my college bad to my friends. few of them ate completely and asked me, “did your grandmother come to vijayawada? this mutton curry is not like how you bring every time, and it’s a little different.”

I said, ” It’s S.narayanamma mutton curry, not any ones” yes, i named that recipe after her.

now also, when I feel low, I will just cook and eat that mutton curry happily. that recipe has that magic in it and taste of it matches to the pure smile of her.

All i can say if she listens to me once is “her curry lives on in my kitchen forever”

This is Ravi Yalavarthi and I will see you soon, Click here to read about other women who influenced me