Best gift from my grandparents-Reading Habit | Blog by Yashnashree

This incident happened in my childhood. I felt enthusiastic as I went to the market for the first time! I  could smell the faint, crispy scent of chips in the air. 

My grandparents took me over there as I was feeling bored. As I was tossing away golden battered chips on the ground (hey, I was only 3.5 years old!), I spotted something shiny on the barrier. I was ready to jab it down when my grandmother stiffly walked up behind one of the barriers and brought out a book. 

The title read, ‘Alley Cats’. It had an enthralling cover, and I was happy that my grandma was getting me a book. My grandfather whipped out another book, ‘Good Night, Sleep Tight’. 

As we headed back home, I started reading. That was the beginning of my reading journey, and it became my passion because my grandparents love buying me books.                               

Sometime back, I was rummaging through my old books when my grandparents were home. One of them asked, “How does it feel when you read?”

I replied, “It feels like jumping into another world.”

When she was leaving back to her place,  my grandmother gave me a small letter before winking. I wondered why.  I checked the letter and found a strange rhythm saying,  ‘Take two letters from the first word and give me what’s left’. It had the spelling ALLEY CAT. That was the first book she had gifted me!  

I decided to unravel the code. 

Out of Alley, I removed e and y, and I got ALL. I did not understand it. I reported it to my grandma on the phone. She burst out laughing, and I started wondering why. She gave me a heart-melting smile and said, “The ‘ALL’ stands for all your love. I wanted to see whether you could crack my code, as you are always reading detective stories these days.” I wished I could hug her on the phone! 

I love my grandparents, as they are lovely, understanding, careful, jolly, playful and thrilling.

I would like to end with a poem for my grandma. 

Dear Grandma…

I admire you the most.

Though you know a lot, you never boast.

You are always on my side.

And your heart is open and wide.

You are my lord.

You have a way with words.

You always try stuff.

And you neither give up nor make a fuss.

Your class is so good.

And you maintain every class under your hood.

You write lovely poems that come from your mind.

Your words seep bright sunshine,

That almost makes us blind! 

It makes me happy to think about how wonderful it is to have a grandma like you.

You always care for me.

It shows that you love me.

And you always play with me

When you are free.

You are the best.

You always tell stories while we rest.

We play Business, Uno Kitchen set,  

So much fun, you bet! 

You are sappy.

I am happy!