Power of Fact Checking

My Paati (Grandmother) had two children. My father and his younger sister 1 1/2 years younger. Paati was never tired of telling that my father was special, as she did not bear a child for a long time after marriage, and she had to do special intense prayers,which finally bore fruit in the form of my father. We could understand the pressure she would have gone through those days, as not bearing a child resulted in a stigma. That my father was thus born out of penance became a kind of folklore in the family. When I was in my mid 20s, I had started taking an interest in Astrology. I was rummaging through some old wooden boxes in my Paatis Agraharam House as I had nothing else to do, when I stumbled upon her horoscope written in Palm Leaves. I started reading it. Suddenly it stuck me that something was amiss. Her birth year was written in Malayalam as was the practice then. I quickly converted it to English Calendar year and noted that she was born in 1916 January.I went up to her and asked when she got married. She told me she remembered she got married immediately on turning 13 (they did marry young those days) and in the month of Makaram, which makes it from Jan 16-Feb 15 of 1929. My father was born 6th May 1930. Hence Father was born to her when she was 14 years and 4 months old, and 1 year and 3 months after her Marriage. It also meant, she conceived him within 5 months of her wedding!!!! I went back and asked her where then did the question of her not having a child for a long time and praying arose? She was wishy washy and diverted the topic. I posed the same question to my father, who was quite surprised at this finding but asked me to let it be. There is always a huge advantage in doing a simple fact check before opining or taking a stand. It may reveal a different picture, and avoid getting splashed with mud on your face. You dont have to rely on palm leaves but have Google.