When the student is ready, the Guru will come. I met Narayan maam, my mother's cousin for the first time ever in 2000.
We had just returned from Vietnam; the children and I were living on our own. Ashray was 2, Disha- 6. The home we had lovingly put together was our base once again. Deval was still in Vietnam and soon moved to Dhaka. How long we were to be on our own, I did not know. Caught right in the middle of the monsoon, with a new school where the dignity of children was crushed underfoot, Disha shrivelled from day to day. Ashray got sick, got better, started play school and hated every minute of it. And I went from day to day being a single parent.
Then I heard that I had family nearby. I called up Narayan maam and went over for a visit. With his equally welcoming wife and soft spoken daughter, he welcomed us and made us comfortable. We spent a few hours chatting and from that day onwards, I did not feel as if I was alone in Vasai. I had a ' koolar' near by.
In August that year, Deval changed jobs and returned to Vasai. Before his next posting to Singapore that was to start that December, we decided to go to Goa for Diwali. And met Narayan maam's family on their way to the same place, his in-laws lived there. So even in Goa, we had a home now. We visited them and had fun, spent Lakshmi Pujan at their place and made more memories.
After Singapore, it was Canada and soon Facebook came knocking. Since then, we have never looked back. We chat almost everyday, we banter, we tease, we share and we reflect. Narayan maam and I have stopped wondering why did we wait so long in life before we met, we have both learned to give thanks that we ever met at all and connected as we had known each other for life, perhaps several.
As I sit here on this Sunday night, I give thanks for being gifted the company of this man who is more than an uncle to me: he is a reading buddy, he is a critic, he is a shoulder to rest on, he is a friend, he is my teacher, he is my Guru. He smiles through all the cards that life has dealt him and speaks with a voice so strong that it makes the world sit up and take notice.
I no longer have my own place in Vasai; just a video clip of Deval unscrewing our name from that door with my muffled sob from behind the camera. Yet when think of the beloved song: Mamachya gavaala jaooya, I think of Vasai and have Narayan maam standing in the door with his signature smile. Home is where the heart is, I know and I know I have a home in Vasai. What more could a girl ask for?
We had just returned from Vietnam; the children and I were living on our own. Ashray was 2, Disha- 6. The home we had lovingly put together was our base once again. Deval was still in Vietnam and soon moved to Dhaka. How long we were to be on our own, I did not know. Caught right in the middle of the monsoon, with a new school where the dignity of children was crushed underfoot, Disha shrivelled from day to day. Ashray got sick, got better, started play school and hated every minute of it. And I went from day to day being a single parent.
Then I heard that I had family nearby. I called up Narayan maam and went over for a visit. With his equally welcoming wife and soft spoken daughter, he welcomed us and made us comfortable. We spent a few hours chatting and from that day onwards, I did not feel as if I was alone in Vasai. I had a ' koolar' near by.
In August that year, Deval changed jobs and returned to Vasai. Before his next posting to Singapore that was to start that December, we decided to go to Goa for Diwali. And met Narayan maam's family on their way to the same place, his in-laws lived there. So even in Goa, we had a home now. We visited them and had fun, spent Lakshmi Pujan at their place and made more memories.
After Singapore, it was Canada and soon Facebook came knocking. Since then, we have never looked back. We chat almost everyday, we banter, we tease, we share and we reflect. Narayan maam and I have stopped wondering why did we wait so long in life before we met, we have both learned to give thanks that we ever met at all and connected as we had known each other for life, perhaps several.
As I sit here on this Sunday night, I give thanks for being gifted the company of this man who is more than an uncle to me: he is a reading buddy, he is a critic, he is a shoulder to rest on, he is a friend, he is my teacher, he is my Guru. He smiles through all the cards that life has dealt him and speaks with a voice so strong that it makes the world sit up and take notice.
I no longer have my own place in Vasai; just a video clip of Deval unscrewing our name from that door with my muffled sob from behind the camera. Yet when think of the beloved song: Mamachya gavaala jaooya, I think of Vasai and have Narayan maam standing in the door with his signature smile. Home is where the heart is, I know and I know I have a home in Vasai. What more could a girl ask for?
1 comment:
The first I met Rashmee, my भाच्ची (niece) I knew instantly that she was a sensitive soul and that we would get along like a house on fire. Over the years that we kept meeting each other, I am happy we met at all. Like they say, "देर आये, दुरुस्त आये". I am touched by what she has written. Thanks, Rashmee, for making me 'immortal'.
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