Vacations at Bhuj - 2

Vacation was like an intermission in our fast-paced routine. For us, too, it  was a huge break and a change from Mumbai. 

How much patience it must have been needed to blend in a social circle which seemed alien to us. The main reason being, our limited knowledge of our mother tongue - Gujarati.  Being educated in a convent school, and living in the cosmopolitan culture of Mumbai, our language was heavily influenced by English and Hindi. Many a times we were ridiculed for our choice of words and sometimes we were considered arrogant or haughty for the restricted use of the language. Till date, English or Hindi speaking people are treated differently. Well, well, nothing can be done about it.

Anyways, going down the memory lane, my sphere of influence involves many people. Most important of them are my grandparents. I feel that a person has to be very lucky to be able to spend quality time with elders. I was one such lucky person, who has soaked up and reveled in the love and attention that I received from my grandparents.

My very first memory belongs to my Nana's place. He used to live in a small house in one of those small winding alleys belonging to the old city. It was almost in the center of the city. I was very young, you can say around 5 to 6 years old, when I first met my Nana. My nana was an educationalist and had been a DEO for several years and moved around the state with his family. He was an extremely independent person with a loving and caring nature. He used to look after his whole family including his paternal and maternal relatives. His earning was not much but he was a person with a large heart and was faithfully supported by my nani. I used to be intimidated by his scholarly personality. He was such a stalwart. Although I had met him only a few times, he is still fresh in my memory.  I couldn't resist to share a very funny memory. My nana didn't have any hair on his head except for a few strands at the neck. So whenever I found him sitting on his resting chair, I used to creep behind him and tap on his head saying 'Taklu'. He used to laugh off and ask me to give him some of my hair. I used to run off shyly. Also I was amazed at him wearing a 'Dhoti'. I had never seen anyone back home wearing one. So I used to try pulling it out and constantly nag my mom about why can't Nana wear a Pant-shirt like my dad? She used to tell me that he belonged to an old culture where this Dhoti and Kurta (better known as 'Sadro') were the traditional wear as it was very hot in Bhuj. He used to talk with me on various topics revolving around his life and the culture of Bhuj. He also used to ask about my academics and other activities back home. I was too young to understand his talks but I did listen to him with rapt attention. I was not very lucky enough to spend more time with my nana as he left us when I was too young. I sometimes wish that he had some more time, then I could have got his guidance not only in my field of education but also in other worldly matters. Alas!  God too is in dire need of noble men.

My Nani - an interesting person. I have seen my nani always neat and tidy. Since my nana died early we have always seen her wearing sarees in the shades of white and grey. But she was very choosy about everything. Neatly worn saree, tidily made up hair, thick spectacles and always ready to help - such was my nani. She was a perfectionist and a silent worker. She made awesome sweets and other delicacies as she was very patient and diligent in her work. She had a lot of knowledge about the know-hows of making food, keeping the house, handling social matters and solving disputes in the family. She loved to be the center of attraction of any family function. She was a chatter-box as well as a gossip monger. She looked innocently cute while she gossiped. She loved having 'Thumssup' that's what she called 'Thumbs up'. We used to lovingly bring ice creams and coldrinks (as she said) for her as they were her favourites. She was an ardent foodie. Even with a weak stomach, she couldn't resist asking my mom to prepare for her different food items. If by chance she had loose motions after over-eating, she would immediately come up with a medicine to stop them. She was always prepared with all sorts of medicines. 

I used  to annoy my Nani, infact a lot. We rarely used to see dogs in Mumbai. So whenever I found a stray dog in Bhuj, I used to run inside the house, into the kitchen, and take all the rotis and feed one by one to all the dogs. My Nani used to shout and scream at me and my mom and then had to prepare rotis again. Also, I used to ride the dogs. My Nani was a very good cook. She was very hard-working, diligent and perfect in her work. She used to make awesome Bhindi and potato subji. But when it was served to me, I would eat up all the Bhindi leaving behind the potatoes. She was very annoyed by this and used to scold and reprimand me for this. One incident that I still remember is that Nani had prepared a snack using leftover roti with chaas, for all of us cousins. I immediately refused to eat and told her that it was not made as my mom made it (without chaas ) and that I liked a dry chivda of  the roti. All my cousins looked at me horrified, and they told me that I had guts to speak like this to our Nani. Well that's me, telling straight on face. I was a bit rude in speaking at that particular time. My nani felt very bad and half-heartedly gave me something else to eat. She remained gloomy throughout the day, but by evening we all were fine. I have also seen and experienced discrimination between boys and girls during such trips. My cousin brothers would be treated with sweets while we just sat their watching them getting all the attention. Sad ! but it's true that these things happen even in an educated household - a family which belonged to teachers and high post education officers. But we always  heeded  our mom's advice and would leave the place quietly. I believe in listening to my elders advice not because they are always right, but because they have more experiences of being wrong. This helped me then and even now it's working!!!

Hey , I have a pet name which was given to me lovingly by my dad after a famous film and it's actress. Here I would love to mention a fact ,that, all our relatives and my cousins used to call me by my pet name. But once I got engaged, it was my nani who instructed everyone in the family to use my official name. According to her, I was now grown up and going to be married soon. So she didn't want my new family to use that name. Love you nani, as we could never have been able to express our wish to all. Also I learnt to cook a sweet delicacy named Puranpoli from my nani. She was a very strict but a patient teacher. I enjoyed interacting with her. I used to observe the way she used to make neat piles of clothes, pressing them so well that upon using those clothes one would feel that they are ironed. She used to run the comb in her hair continuously  to maintain her heathy hair. She used to spend hours making diyas from cotton and threads. Oh my nani ! How I miss you and your kind words.

We were not habituated to walking a lot in Mumbai. For school, we had a school bus and for the rest of the outing, we had auto rickshaws if we had to go a long distance. Now my Mama, my mom's elder brother, loved to take all of us children on long walks. Whenever he used to announce that today we are visiting so n so place, we would literally be in tears half way and I would tell him 'my legs are paining '. And all of them would start laughing on me. Till date, he teases me whether my legs are paining or not. That was funny, right? But it was more fun to roam about in the mela (fair), to go to different temples, to visit numerous relatives and the best part - to sleep under the vast sky at night on the terrace. My mama is a strong person - both physically and mentally. He used to wake us up early in the morning and take us for a stroll in his vast garden. There he showed me all the fruits and vegetables that he grew and even made me taste a few. It felt like my science textbook came alive in front of my eyes. The days used be hot but the evenings and nights became cooler. The whole maternal family with all my cousins and maasis' used to come together at my mama's place and a round full of merriment began. We all used to play cards, crack jokes, indulge in gossip and pull each other's legs.  Finally we all would settle down to sleep on the terrace. It was one of the main attractions of our vacations.

Yes indeed. We had never seen such a clear night sky. In cities, one only sees a small patch of the night sky from amongst the buildings.  The breathtaking view of the star studded sky would draw our minds and souls from the worldy nitty-gritty. We would rather focus on trying to find out the details like the constellations , the north star, the milky way,etc. from  what we used to learn from our textbooks. The cool night air, the undisturbed silence and the celestial bodies of the heaven over us would slowly lull us to sleep.

 “A well-spent day brings happy sleep.” Leonardo da Vinci

Time does not pass, it continues. So will my exposition....