Monday, January 14, 2013

A letter to my son

Dear Son,
i am in a hurry and have to tell u a lot. My memory fails me and i can't recall if i have familiarized u with many of our own. i am in hurry because a lot many is going out with the wind and there is this intense urge to preserve. What best than to remind u.


Oh! this maniac Monday and it's frenetic pace, oh! the alien land and although they call it a melting pot i'm sure u would have none to remind u in ur work place of the significance of January 14th.
i wonder if u r missing Chennai a tad bit more today. i wonder if u can recall 'PONGAL O' PONGAL'.
i wonder if u can recall the palm leaf toranams (decoration for the doors), rangoli ( floor decoration with rice powder)  and all the works...



                                                     
Pls Pls when u r back from the office and when u are surfing that toy of urs will u go through
http://shivanidiwani64.blogspot.in/2011/01/of-sankranti-tillkoot-and-rest.html.
i just want u to do nothing then after the post is read. Just chill on that bed of urs and give a few moments to remember what is urs.

i know u were not too fond of Dahi Chooda but one day u would miss it. It happens to all of us. There will be a phase in ur life when u shall be recounting the benefits of the healthy combination of Dahi chooda as a breakfast meal to ur own kids. i know u will be telling them how their Granddad would prefer to eat this BIHARI breakfast everyday with relish and would never want anything else.
You would then remember ur mom's mimicry and perhaps smile inwardly about all that ur Mom felt about Biharis.
i know by now u would have understood that it was never Dahi chooda per se that cheesed me off.
i know ur maturity would make u look beyond the mimicry and remind u of ur roots.
Think about ur roots with some kindness and with most pride.
Why did i feel this urge to tell you this today?
Talk to me when u r free...anytime...mmm...maybe during the weekend and ask me.
Yes ask me pls for the less important mundane news might take precedence in our talks and i might miss letting u know yet again.
i am reeling under what they used to say in our village, " Jey beta pardes gail, dev pitar sab se gail ''.
Yeah SURE the Saharsa Maithili dialect meaning thereby that the son who goes abroad is bereft of the holidays, rituals and with his ancestral roots.
And i don't want this. i'd rather beta pardes gail tahiyo dev pitar se nai gail. ( Son gone abroad but is still nurturing faith in his roots, his Gods and his ancestors ).

Will it be possible for u to get hold of some sweet that contains sesame seeds?
Alas! if u had just shown some interest in that Gajak/ tilkoot ( a dry sweet made with sesame seeds)  that i had got u last time from the famous vijaykumarajaykumargarg gajjak wale Delhi. Then i would not be asking u this.

i have this intense urge to have u here right in front of me and asking u to spread ur outstretched palms towards me. Onto which i could put a bit of sesame seeds with jaggery and ask, Tiley Tiley Bahava Na ???
Sesame seeds of all the seeds and why?
All that i have learnt i wish u convey to u. That just like the sesame seeds i wish ur life to be healthy and that in ur journey u too ought to exchange tenderness and love. Not that u don't but this ritual that i want to perform is just a reminder. A mom's way of blessing her son and reminding all the time of all that is intrinsic and our very own.
God Bless you beta and although i miss sharing the Sankranti specials with u i would love to wish u a very realized and different Makar Sankranti, Happy Pongal and last but not the very least a very blessed from all of us here which includes ur own GRANDPARENTS a very new  TILASANKRANTI.

P.S. i need not remind u of course that it's essential to have a bath today which i presume that a hygiene conscious boy that u r u would have.


Special thanks for :-
1) The image of Toranam
Courtesy : http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmer_ng_pateros/favorites/page83/?view=lg
2) The image of Rangoli
Courtesy: http://www.indiacurrents.com/articles/2009/01/04/remembering-rangoli

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