Member-only story
My Grandfather Only Worked for Five Years
No wonder he lived to 92 years
My grandfather had an interesting life.
When he was 18 years old, he left home to go work for Mahatma Gandhi. This was in 1923. His father was not happy. They had an arranged marriage lined up for him, but Grandfather was an idealist who wanted to fight for Indian freedom.
In 1930, when he was 25 years old, he was one of the original marchers during Gandhi’s march to the sea. A couple of years after that, he saw my grandmother and instantly fell in love. Her mother gave him permission to marry her.
My own mother was born in 1940. She remembers as a child living in Gandhi’s ashram.
After Indian Independence, my grandfather had a lot of prestige due to his work for Gandhi. He started his own construction company, building roads. Due to his connections, he was able to get some sweet deals with Burma Shell and Esso.
He worked for 5 years.
During this time, he made a lot of money. My Mom remembers sitting with him and helping him count the rupees. There were a lot.
However, he was on the road a lot. He was constantly working. He had very little time for his family.
