January jackpots

One of the nice outcomes of moving part of your home into another is you bump into pleasant surprises stored in boxes. This cheque reminds me of a time I earned in $. It’s special because it was dated on my birthday but most of all I like it because of the whales in the backdrop. The orcas hold a particular significance in my life; so I believe. Someday when I have them painted on my soul, I shall explain their significance. I wanted to keep this memory so alive that I had the cheque laminated.

I always knew my grandmother (aai) was gorgeous, and still continues to be, but I had never seen any pictures of her in the younger days. The picture (below) was taken when she was just about married. “Another jackpot of January,” I said to myself.  “That’s my wedding sari, in silk,” she said, also mentioning that the blouse design was “in vogue” during that period (1950s). 

I love her. She is a woman of strength and substance, right before my sister. My mum is very lady-like fascinated with jewelry and all the so called womanly things but aai and my sis are less materialistic and more spiritual.

Aai birthed five kids, four girls and a boy. During her times too, boy or girl, were both equal to her. She never felt the urge to birth a particular gender. A nice, healthy child was fine by her. The man next to her is my grandfather (Bapu), obviously ;-)! I never really liked him. No love whatsoever but he was a responsible man with Gandhian philosophies. If I was to discuss with him about Gandhi and his German wrestler boyfriend, he would probably beat me unconscious for even thinking that Gandhi had a male lover. Needless to say, he was very Indian in that aspect. To a majority of Indians, freedom fighters were all WHITE. No shades of grey or black. I like Gandhi. Personally to me, apart from freedom, he has given two great philosophies which I shall discuss someday later. He is a great philosopher, great man but I am open minded to listening some of the dark secrets he had buried. When Bapu died, I didn’t go to his funeral. My excuse was, “I didn’t love him, anyways.” I have more empathy now and let people be what they want to be unless it doesn’t affect my course of life. If it was today, I would have paid my last respects. I respected him although didn’t have the love. Even without the love, I am sure part of his blood runs in me. He was also super proud of the fact that his first grandchild went to the US in his early 20s for work. Aai and he fell apart after the loss of my mamu but she came back to nurture him during his “sickness.” She was strong enough to believe in separation and soft enough to nurture the only man she ever loved.

Me and Jaidu (my nephew, Jai,) had a republic day date. He wanted to see “Main Krishna hoon” and I took him along to Cinemax at Infinity Malad. He has no love for the maternal side of his family but there have been a few instances over the past days that his love for mamu is overflowing. He actually kissed me twice before going to school once. Doing that on his own, without coercion from me or his mother, is something. He’s a very kind, soft and gentle boy, I have realized with the time I spend with him. There are kids who are jerks but he can never harm anybody he knows. He loves any food other than the one cooked at home. The afternoon we spent together he had a filet-o-fish meal, two samosas and an ice-cream. He wanted to pack a double trouble doughnut for later but I was very worried of all the things his stomach had been digesting that day. I became the disciplinarian and said, “No, Jayu, enough eating outside for the day! We shall have the doughnut another time.” I reasoned, he pretended to understand. :-). He is a mirror image of his mum; same eyes, same lips, and similar kindness. x o.

Oh yeah, someday in life, I am going to visit the lavender Garden in Mont Ventoux, Southern France. I was the 555th person to like it on facebook. It should be a sign, yeah?