My grandfather’s feelings | Story byTanaaz, 11, Johannesburg

My grandfather’s name is Hussain. He is 72 years old. My grandmother passed away in 2014 when she was 53 years old. She was a kind, soft and humble person who used to love us a lot. After grandmother passed away, grandfather moved from India to South Africa to stay with us.

I thought he will be very happy to come here as he used to always tell us on the  phone that it is hot in India and he misses his family members as they all moved to South Africa. But when came here, he looked sad. 

I always saw him gaze out the window for many hours. I wondered what he must be thinking about. Was he missing India or missing my grandmother? 
When I asked him, he would say he is very happy to be with us grandchildren but I saw him cry silently when he thought no one was looking. It pained me to see that he felt lonely here.

Then I remembered what my teacher once said in class. All the riches and comforts in the world mean nothing if you don’t have a friend to talk to. Now I realized why my grandfather was so sad. He had no friends. 

I began to mingle with him. I talked to him everyday and discovered that he shared my love for puzzles. That turned out to be the start of a magical bond with my grandfather. Together, when we solve puzzles, my grandfather forgets his sorrows and his loving smile comes back on his face. 

He also began to accompany me when I went to the garden in the evening and there he found a group of other grandfathers who were a lot like him. These days I see my grandfather’s smiling face a lot and feel very happy. He still misses grandmother and India but he is happy that he has the company of his grandchildren and friends to take care of him in his old age.