Ashwin Ved Was Born April 25Th, 1952 in Mumbai, India. I Walk Into Our Large Living Room

Payal Ved

Mrs. Morris

Hela 10 Hour 7

9 May 2017

Grandpa Ved

Ashwin Ved was born April 25th, 1952 in Mumbai, India. I walk into our large living room with neatly kept decorated pieces of art and history and I see him sitting. He is the only one there and the room is so clean it looks as if no one has touched anything. I sit down next to him and ask him “can you tell me all about your life?” he laughs and asks me “well that’s kind of random but you basically know all about it because I’ve told all about, but if you want sure”. He sets his newspaper down and says “When I was in tenth grade I dropped out of school” I started laughing so hard because till that day I thought that he actually did but he did go through college and was just messing around with me the whole time. My grandpa loves to tell jokes and his sense of humor always manages to find the upside of any event especially in the difficult one she has lived through.

When grandpa was young he grew up in a very populated city. Populated also mean highly poverty stricken. However, his father was a hard worker and managed to pay for one of the most schools in the area. St. Mary’s was an only boys school that grandpa went to. It is known for one of the most disciplined and best educated schools in the area. However, grandpa was very mischievous and that resulted in severe punishments at the schools. “I remember almost every day my dad had to come down and talk to the dean. One day I walked into the class and sat down. I used to wrestle in the morning and would be tired during the first period. So, when I sat down I put my head down and pretty much fell asleep. Within minutes I hear my name being yelled by Mother Mary and I slowly raise my head up off the desk. I see her walking furiously towards me with a wooden ruler in her hand. She says, ‘Ashwin get up this instant’ and I get up and she grabs my wrist flips my knuckles over and smacks the ruler on my knuckles. But obviously Payal you know I’m not going to just take that. So, I said ‘Mother Mary that isn’t going to help me get stronger could you please hit it harder?’ and she was furious. She screams ‘Ashwin get out right now!!!’ and I run as fast as possible out of the class while the entire room is laughing. I will never forget that…”. As grandpa told the story it seemed though as if he was reliving the moment in his mind. He would laugh as he told it and even try to mimic the people’s voices. Grandpa would always use sports and school to enjoy because he didn’t have money to spend freely and that greatly affected what he wore and ate. However, he was the most desired kid in the area due to his strength and good looks. His father was very proud of him even if he was barely passing school and a great trouble maker. Him and his nine other siblings enjoyed so much together that they forgot that they were in the lowest end of the poverty spectrum.

As he would go to school he would get into small fights with kids andhis gang would encourage him. Every day after school some parent would be at his house complaining to his mother that he hit someone’s son. Grandpa would get into trouble however, it never ceased. One day he was at school and during lunch one of the kids dared him. He said “Ashwin I bet you can’t jump off the fourth floor” grandpa obviously had to prove that he is always the best and didn’t back down on the dare. During lunch, they all gathered and he goes by the window and looks down. All the kids are cheering him and as he is about to jump the teachers anddean are running to try and get him to stop. However, they were too late and he jumped. “AND I STICKED A PERFECT LANDING!!” grandpa was so proud of himself because the entire school was cheering him on. He laughed as he said it and showed off his victory poses. About ten minutes later he was in the office and he sees his father walk in. he was extremely nervous. He was scolded by his father and the dean and almost got expelled. Luckily, he only got a two-week suspension. As they were exiting the office neither of them said a word on the walk home. As they approached their house his father stopped him and said, “that’s my son” and walked inside. That moment grandpa was so happy. As he was speaking his eyes became glossy as he recollected every part of the memory and perhaps other memories of his father. His father was proud of him because even though they were living under the lines of poverty with just enough to eat it didn’t bother him from doing daily activities and enjoying his life to the fullest.

Lastly, one of grandpa’s most memorable moments was when he was at school and Mother Mary wasn’t there. Instead there was another teacher who grandpa just couldn’t remember the name of. He thought she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Grandpa was about 17 years old and was still the same old mischievous person everyone knew. He thought that it would be a clever idea to give flowers to her. So, grandpa goes out and collects as many nice flowers as well as a basket of mangos from the mango tree behind his house. He enters the school and everyone watches him as he approaches the teacher who is not much older than him. He says, “Mother these flowers remind me of your beautiful face and I would love for you to accept them” he didn’t expect for her to and he was ready for rulers to meet his knuckles and him to meet the dean. Instead the very opposite happened. She grabbed the flowers and mangos and smelled the flowers. The class was quite shocked. She said, “Ashwin these flowers are so nice.” And while grandpa is turned around and gives the class a smirk and a cocky look the teacher smacks the flowers on his back and the class bursts out into laughter. She beat him out of the room with rulers and flowers all the way to the dean’s office. Grandpa always people laugh, even the other teachers were laughing and making fun because his teacher got so upset at him. After a point, even she was laughing and couldn’t even get mad. Grandpa has true magic of getting people to get rid of their anger and just turning it into pure joy.

After laughing for nearly two hours we finally got up and stretched a bit. I look around the living room and try to imagine the style of living from when my grandpa was my age versus how we are living now. His sense of humor got him through many hardships. For example, he got through the 1993 bombing in Bombay that happened while my dad was in school. He managed to keep everyone calm in the family especially since they were near by the explosion. He told everyone stories of how laughing and keeping yourself worry free can relax one and help get through and situation. He also went through a very lengthy process of immigration and he is very thankful that his parents sacrificed so much for him so he could go to a catholic school and learn English as a first language. This made his immigration process go a lot easier and could find a job quicker as well. Before leaving to go to practice he says “thank you Payal for taking me on a walk down memory lane”.