It was the 1930s and the world was in the throes of the Great Depression with millions out of work . My grandfather was one among them and perforce he had to take shelter in his well heeled mother-in-laws house till he could find the ways and means to make a living.
This scary incident (with a funny side to it) was narrated to me many years ago by my late grandfather and I have no reason to disbelieve it for he was a rationalist to the core and a mathematician of some standing who was even among the small team which had helped to sponsor the late Srinivasa Ramanujam’s trip to England for further studies at Cambridge.
It was the 1930s and the world was in the throes of the Great Depression with millions out of work . My grandfather was one among them and perforce he had to take shelter in his well heeled mother-in-law’s house till he could find the ways and means to make a living.
She (my great-grandmother) was a formidable harridan who ran the household with a praetorian iron hand and she did not take lightly to an unemployed son-in-law staying with her without contributing any ‘moolah’ to run the household. The running cold war between the two in-laws was the talk of the town.
My great-grandmother had one earthly possession to which she was devoted like a tigress to its cubs. It was a woollen blanket (which was called a ‘rug’ in those days) which was luxurious by middle class standards. Every night, she would cover herself-snug as a bug in a rug-and keep herself warm in the chilly Madras nights.
My grandfather had to be content with a thin cotton dhoti to keep himself warm and naturally coveted that blanket, but there was no way he could access it, not with his mother-in-law around.
Grabbing the blanket!
After about 90 summers, my great grand mother passed away and on the night of the funeral, my grandfather decided that the time was ripe to wrap himself with his late mother-in-law’s blanket and enjoy a quiet snooze. He covered himself with it and according to his narrative, around midnight, he was suddenly woken up and he could very clearly feel someone determinedly and violently tugging at the blanket, ordering sternly— “Give me that blanket this instant!”
My grand father needed no further persuading that it was indeed his mother-in-law enforcing her rule from the ethereal world yonder ensuring that her ‘bête noire’ son-in-law didn’t enjoy the cozy comforts of her blanket!
