My Grandmother vs Researchers!

Today’s post is dedicated to my grandmother - Mrs. Rangamani Ammal. From my very first memory, she showered me with love - with every interaction! She passed away a long time ago - but, I’ve seen people vividly recall her words 25+ years after they were uttered and talk about how it influenced their life in a profound way.

Given that both my parents were at work, she was the one who practically raised me at home. Anyone who saw us together could tell how good she was with kids - she had raised many kids at this point in her life.

I must’ve been a piece of cake for her… Having lost her husband (my grandfather) at a very young age, she raised both her son (my dad) and daughter (my aunt) as a single mom. She held multiple jobs to put food on the table and made sure to give them good school education.

My parents already had two kids - my elder brother (7 years) and elder sister (10 years) before I was conceived. As it turns out, it was my grand mom’s constant requests/pleads that eventually convinced my mom to consider having another child - my mom confessed, years later.

Apparently, she told my mom an old saying in Tamil: “தம்பி உடையான் படைக்கு அஞ்சான்”. It loosely translates to, “Person who has a younger brother will not dread any army”. (You see that type of behavior in old Indian mythological tales… For example: In Ramayana, Lord Rama relies and trusts his younger brother Lakshmana tremendously which enables him to go on risky missions & battles in the story.)

Everything I know about resilience and determination comes from her journey. Life presented countless obstacles, yet she remained steadfast, always moving forward with unyielding resolve.

With that context, let me recollect and explain some of her actions and words of wisdom (in Tamil) and connect them to multidisciplinary insights that I’ve learned today as a 45 year old man.

Table of Contents

• The Lindy Effect

• The Psychology of Lakshmi and Saraswati

• Experience keeps a dear school

• Learn about life from stories!

• Risk Taking

• Bonus: Health Advice

If we are talking about the wisdom from the elders, old ideas, old books, etc. then we have to first talk about the Lindy Effect.