Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Remembrance

They are talking about people from the past. A young, male relative who one day made such delicious and evenly fried pakodas* that even the ladies of the household couldn’t stop envying him; a long forgotten neighborhood aunt whose clothesline was the embodiment of middle class organizational skills; their always grumbling mother/mother-in-law and how she was not happy with the way the young male relative made those pakodas.

They are talking about them, remembering them from their last storehouse of memories, because when they left home, their relatives and snapped ties with that old life forever, they ceased to make new memories about it. So now until they themselves cease to exist, the now old male relative will always be young, forever cooking delicacies for the extended family, freshly washed clothes will continue to drip proudly in the backyard of that neighborhood aunt and the now (presumably) dead matron of the house will continue to grumble away forever. This is the fate shared by everyone who has left something behind in a hurry, more so of the refugees of fate itself.

As if time is a river which though doesn’t stop for anyone, it is we who drop the anchors of our memories and linger on, sometimes for a moment, sometimes forever.

A *Pakora (पकोड़ा; پکوڑا; பஜ்ஜி;); is a fried snack found across South Asia. Pakoras are created by taking one or two ingredients such as onion, eggplant, potato, spinach, cauliflower, tomato, chilli or occasionally chicken and dipping them in a batter of gram flour and then deep-frying them. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakoda 

11 comments:

Neelabh said...

What life would be without memories? I was reading Papillon (completed it half an hour back) and there he(Henry) spent years in a cell just walking and remembering his childhood and all those happy memories.

Toon Indian said...

very well said, memories are like flowing river. The moment we snap ties with someone, they freeze in our consciousness. And then we start making judgments from our limited memory.

Ire said...

Very eloquent!

How do we know said...

Beautifully written Adee... VERY beautifully written.. just the kind of wintery writing that moi loves..

Surubhi said...

So true.....these memories always stay fresh :)

delhidreams said...

neelabh: man is a creature of memories, without them he is nothing. interesting story you've mentioned, will look out for it. thanks :)

Rahul: hmmm thanks. i won't exactly say frozen instead i would like to say they are not replenished, so stagnated they remain.

niki: shukriya :)

howdy: finally! ;)

suru: as i said to neelabh above, it is these memories that define what we are :)

thanks for your comments friends! much much appreciated :)

How do we know said...

:-)

Phoenix said...

Beautifully written, and so pertinent

Birdie said...

"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories." Memories are an indispensable part of human life. With each passing moment we leave behind some memories. Even the difficult present is a sweet memory in future. Jaise ki kisi mahaan insaan ne kaha hai - baatein bhool jati hain, yaadein yaad aati hain.. :)

Nicely written post Adi. Short but effective. Going good on ur new year resolution.

Keep writing...
:)

Cloudy said...

Lovely Lines Adi! (Or should I say Adee). Long time since we e-met :) I had no idea you guys still stop by my old blog - thanks... But honestly I don't think I can go back there. I even decided to reply to you on your blog because I can't go back to mine anymore! I left for reasons I haven't written there (choosing instead to be flippant), but the truth is... well, I'll probably tell you sometime. Meanwhile I'll keep visiting here, and have a great year!

Ed Newman said...

>>>As if time is a river which though doesn’t stop for anyone<<<

Your comment here made me think of my own reflections on rivers.
... http://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2008/09/of-time-and-river.html

dreamt before

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin