Another week gone - continuing looking back!!! (Entry dated 12/29/2006 )

It is 1 am and what better time to gather your thoughts and putting them down. Well I had planned, no not planned, may be thought or wished that will have one entry per day....but then life always has other plans for you than what you have for life !!!! Too philosophical a thought to waste on such a small thing, right.

Some where the weekdays always go by, not that I am neck deep in work and can't even spare half an hour everyday. It is just the absence of desire to do something more than the mundane office stuff and more mundane home stuff which goes on through the week.

I think 2 paras suffice as enough of "bahanas". And why should I be apologetic after all, It is my blog and I will write as and when I feel like it...it may be 12 times a day, once a week, once a month, once a year, or only once in life....Doesn't matter.

Coming back to my journey of rediscovery. I was talking about my parents. About my father to start off. They did not have a very smooth childhood in terms of materialistic pleasures, but then, back in those days the big joint families almost made up for the gaps in life with togetherness and love....Education used to be really important even back in those days in middle class Bengali families. All my father's siblings were well educated. My father completed his MSc in geology and had multiple job options.....he opted for "Geological Survey of India" which used to be the dream organisation of all geologists. Those were the days of glory of govt service, which used to be the most coveted job in the country. Private sector companies were very few and far between and only a govt job commanded respect in society !!(See how things have changed now... I was so eager that my my company shed its "govt" tag as soon as possible )

So with the job, he was self dependant and on his own....But there was still need to support the family. So he continued to work hard, and do so for next quite a few years to come. And then one fine day, he married my mother and in another year and half, the happiest day of their lives(This is my statement not my parents, but I think this is true ).....when I was born..

My mother also had a financially difficult childhood though there was no dearth of love and happiness around. My mother's family is from Agartala(Tripura). My mother's grandfather used to be teacher with Royal family of tripura and hence a well known figure out there. But there is another reason for his claim to fame. He had built up a huge orchard with in Agartala, and nurtured it for many years....till he lived. I hear it was one of the most amazing places with hundreds of fruits trees, overflowing with fruits....It was one of the most cherished treasures of my mother's childhood and I see her getting nostalgic and relating back to this every now and then!!! At a later stage, the garden was sold off in stages, and now it is a completely a residential area, the legacy still remains . It is still known as "Pyari Babu's garden", Pyari Babu being the name of my great-grandfather(mother's grandfather).

My grandfather was working a a govt officer in Tripura and before that he was posted in Benaras. But we lost him at an early age of 46, victim of brain tumour. And also a victim of medical callousness - wrong diagnosis. By the time the true ailment was detected and he was advised surgery, it was too late...He left us for ever.....My mother was only 10 years old then, and my mashi only 5 ......Though I have never seen my grandpa, the thought that my ma went thru a childhood without her father around, still bring tears to my eyes...when I think of it....I can't even imagine it, let alone realize the pain she has gone through. She has very fond memories of the time she spent with my grandfather.