There are questions to which there are no answers. There are questions to which the answers are profound.

And there are questions, or at least one question, to which the answer keeps changing. It is this: Who is the most important person in your life?

I guess the answer is mother to a child [or father, why be so unfair to that tribe?]. Then, with some friction, it is the lover who will replace her. And then the child, if you are mother [or yes, father].

There are others who also enter the scenario and fit the bill at some stage in your life. Your mentor or ‘Guru’, for example. There are many whose life has been shaped very positively by the mentors or Gurus.

Sometimes it may also be your father in law! For men he can make a huge difference if he is a wealthy man – and a generous one.

I wonder if a grandfather or grandmother is ever the most important person in your life. But he or she is certainly most loved person. To them, their grandchild is the most important person in their life.

Grandchildren [remember that we too once belonged to this class of Homo sapiens] have this unique ability to express love and affection. How we lose this capacity, as we grow, to extend love without expectations should be a subject of research. How can we say that ‘we are growing,’ except in a physical sense, when we lose our capacity to express our unconditional love is a puzzle to me. Perhaps it only shows our warped thinking on the subject of growth.

My DW [darling wife, of course!] and I travelled to London yesterday. This is our third [or is it the fourth? Old age is showing, I forget the count of visits]. We visit here to meet my son and his family, the most important member of the family being the granddaughter.

And she prepared her room to accommodate us. This sticker she put on the door of her room tells it all. That sticker on the door shows the big gift of love from her.

Simple. Straight from heart! Love unalloyed!!

Psychology Today carries an article ‘Ten Ways to Express Love.’ It tells the ten ways. But this simple act does not fit in that list. May be the psychologists are yet to learn; or they will learn that there are many more ways to express unconditional love when they have grandchildren!

Vivek S Patwardhan