Tag: Nani

  • Down the memory lane….

    Last week, I went to see off my Nani for her final journey as my grandmother! And in the process went to my village and walked around the neighborhood where I had spent a lot of time in my childhood…

    Here are a few pictures from my village Karyari (which literally means make friends)

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    A small lane connecting our house to the nearest water-well and some shops… You could get toffees and snacks if you give the shopkeeper some grain instead of money! there were numerous occasions when I would just take some wheat grain from the house and give it to the shopkeeper for some candies!

     

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    Entrance of the house…

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    Another small 2 room house in the compound…

     

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    Door and Window of the meeting place in the compound… Have spent numerous days playing around here, and slept peacefully under the sky!

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    The iron gate welcoming the visitors! One of the few, maybe the only house in the village with this sort of a gate…

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    The handpump in the compound! This used to be the only one in the house, until we got one in the bathroom inside the house! Today without a handle but with more memories that I can recollect…

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    The lock on the kitchen in the compound…

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    The small window like place on the bottom right was used to keep oil lamps… very typical of most houses in the village…

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    Another bolted door in the compound…

     

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    This is the door to the house… 

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    The compound with a few neem trees still reminding it of the people who were living here a few years ago… The kitchen on the left, and the baithak in the front….

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    Lock on a door which once was a door to the shop my uncle was running…

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    All the cousins were walking around this place last week, and thinking how small everything seems now! Most of us have grown up here or spent a lot of time in the house and around during our childhood, and connect so well with this place! Hope to have a day when we all are able to go there with our families and stay there for a few days! and do this all over again every year or so…

  • End of a generation!

    My favorite model, one of my favorite people, and someone who would talk to me at length is no more! My nani passed away on the 12th of January!

    That also means that I do not have any more grandparents! I remember when I was a kid, and used to talk to other kids who did not have any grandparents, I was both happy that I still had mine, and sad that I would have to see them go! This thought, for some reason, has been there since a very long time!

    Nana-Nani did well in their lives even though they came from very poor families from a village… Their children are doing well for themselves and their grandchildren are on their way to good lives! They played an important role when I was a kid too… I don’t exactly remember but they practically raised me when I was a baby!

    Yesterday was her funeral and thankfully everyone there was sensitive to the fact that it was not really a moment to keep crying about! It was a moment to be thankful that she lived a very long life, and was not really dependent on anyone for most of it! She lived well, and left a family that is emotionally very strong!

    I could not cry for some reason, but I kept wondering and thinking throughout the last couple of days! Preparing myself for future when similar things are going to happen and hoping that whatever time someone is living with us, they live peacefully and happy!

    I also managed to visit our house in the village which brought back so many childhood memories that its overwhelming just to think about them!

    I am going to miss the batasha-tulsi prasad that Nani used to give me when I was a kid! I am going to miss you Nani! and I am going to miss shouting out loud Naaaniiiii whenever I used to come see you!

    Stay happy wherever you are! I love you!