Saturday 12 November 2011

An intangible connection...


All day long I've been feeling so restless...can't focus on anything for more 
than a few minutes, it's like something's amiss and I can't figure out what it is...So finally, in what seemed to be like the nth futile attempt (hmph!) in calming down my mind, I picked up an old book of poems (The Golden Treasury) I'd found a few days back while rummaging through some old novels and books stacked away in cardboard boxes. It's really quite old, you know, the kind of book with its pages stained so that they look all yellow and brownish, torn at places...and the paper looked so brittle, making me hesitate to even touch it in fear that it might just crumble into pieces. I guess that's what gives the book so much character...On the third page I found my grandmother's (nana's) name dated 1974 and I don't know why but it felt so strange going through her book, like it found me, like she left it for me...and I felt so warm suddenly, not because of the beautiful poetry (half of which, I admit, I do not understand at all ;)) but because of small notes written here and there, lines underlined, words and paragraphs circled, pencil marks...It got me wondering what she must have been thinking about while reading a particular verse, why she had found some parts particularly interesting? Where she must have been sitting while reading that verse? What she must have been wearing? Was she alone at that time or did she and grandpa share this together? Was she lost in her thoughts, trying to find a little peace and solitude , trying to calm down her mind just like me? All at once, I was able to conjure up an image of her in one of her beautiful sundresses comfortably sitting in a sunny veranda somewhere, rocking away in her rocking chair...and even though I never got a chance to meet her (she died before I was born), I suddenly felt so close to her, like there was something intangible between us...and this last attempt of mine didn't turn out to be useless at all...All's calm now.  

10 comments:

  1. :)
    Wow! What a deluge of emotions... In the 6 odd years that I knew her, I admired and loved her so much. In most ways, Dad is ditto like her!
    Ahh! The book of poems... hadn't we agreed that the son she had gifted the book to had extracted verses from it to impress the lady he loved? ;)

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  2. What a lovely way to express one's feelings. Yes, I too feel so restless at times, but did not know I could calm myself in such a fab way. Yes, Nana was a wonderful woman with strong charecter. Sometimes you do remind me of her.
    Keep blogging.
    Mumma

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  3. Thanks smarty ;) i wish i'd known her too :(

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  4. and yeah...I'm sure dad copied verses from it to woo 'ma ;) ehh, 'ma?

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  5. thanks 'ma. i'm glad i remind you of her :) (at least sometimes) :)

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  6. Mumma feeling restless at times? No way. She's always restless, just waiting to head back to her beloved kitchen :p
    And how unfair! She read my old blog thoroughly and never left even a single comment!! And you accuse her of being partial towards me ;)

    I know you would've loved to have known her firsthand, and she too would've loved you totally. But I'm sure you still know her pretty well through us and through all those pichas we have :)

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  7. Beautiful description of a lovely cascade of emotions...!

    Got me nostalgic..

    I do not know how my grandfather ( dad's father) looks.There are no photographs/paintings; my dad vaguely remembers him of what he had known of him in his 5 years before he passed away.

    I used to wonder and question everyone about him until one star studded night, my great aunt told me of her dear brother with pride, joy to us kids who were huddled around her. I later recount telling my dad all it- things he himself did not know :)

    My grandfather's long gone and so are all the people who knew him well but the two pillars and the walls of the house that he himself built stand still as though reminding us that he set up a strong hold in establishing the family away from the washed out village where we originally belonged to.

    Sorry for the extremely long comment.. :)

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  8. ohh please don't apologize...even hearing only that much felt so good...you know i've been trying to find out as much as i can about my ancestors :) not only nana and grandpa...i'm just so curious about it and i don't know why but i love to do as much research as possible on this subject. so i understand completely what you're saying here. and yeah, thank you :)

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