It’s possible to
define relationships and give a name to a relationship when you have
one. But what about those relationships that cannot be given a form
or a name. Yes, this is very true and though many amongst us may not
want to agree to this, I feel there are few relationships that are much above
our so-called relationships. What I could do from my side is to not
name them. We come across a number of people in our lives and
knowingly or unknowingly are related to them in one way or the
other. Few of these people leave behind a strong mark and it’s just
not possible to erase them from our memories.
When we are teenagers,
we come across many friends and acquaintances who come and go, making some
contribution to our life. Though we may have had a slight inkling of what
they mean to us at that point in time, we would have been busy with our
individual lives and careers. But just sit back and recollect all
the wonderful people who made a difference in your life, even though it may
have been in a small way. The list may really be
endless. I took out the time to recall back those wonderful memories
that I had spent in Mulund.
Here I would make a
special mention and a big thank you to all those people in the chawl that I
grew up in at Mulund. This is where I have spent my initial years of growing
and I can surely say that chawls in Mumbai does teach you a lot of life
lessons. One such special relationship was with one of the neighbours, everyone
called her Gujarati Mami and she was the same for me as well. I am sure did not
even know how to read or write English or even understand it. For
some reason, I loved to go to her house as she always used to give me the special
masala chai. I used to read out my English compositions to her and
she would say in her usual gujarati accent “ Bau saras che”in
Gujarati and it meant “It’s wonderful”. It would give me instant
encouragement and I also used to feel elated that she could not write as well
as I could do, little knowing that she was just trying to make me feel happy
about myself. Just when she had completed the first sentence,
innocently she would ask me “ What is it that I read out to her” ? I
would explain the entire essay to her with my usual gestures and she loved
seeing me actually perform the composition as if it were a play.
Thank you so much
Gujarati mami for having innocently and patiently heard me out when I was
growing up. Even when you were busy, you made it a point to listen to me just
because it brought a smile to my face. I miss her today so much
because she is no more. What should I name this relationship, was
she a friend, a neighbor, an aunty? This is when I thought that I
could not name the wonderful relationship what I shared with her.
For all those people
who have made a difference to my life, I say a BIG THANK YOU.
Signing off for now
Luv
Rekha
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