Anniversaries are a time for reflection.
As I reflect on these family travels, my aim is to explore how our journeys, conversations, and shared experiences help us understand our identities and connections across generations and continents. One thread that emerges repeatedly through our stories is the interplay of loss and discovery—how leaving places, revisiting memories, or encountering new environments shapes who we are and who we become.
This weekend, we talked about his recent trips to India. Our family has deep connections to the North East, where he recently went, and to the Golden Temple, Amritsar. He revisited the museums and parks in the Delhi area where he would go as a toddler. These places spark both a sense of nostalgia for what is no longer present and the excitement of uncovering new meaning in familiar landscapes.
We also reviewed the Niagara and Peel region walks and linked some of them to learning from literature through the story of Kiran Desai in Inheritance of Loss. The theme of loss and discovery is particularly resonant here—each walk recalls something left behind, while also opening space for new perspectives,just as in Desai’s novel.
NARRATIVE MAPPING LENS
In addition, we examine some important places we have been associated with through the lens of Narrative Research, using a stage outline and four questions.
“ Every person’s life can be written as a book. I would like you to think of your life now as if you were writing a book. First, think about the chapters of this book. I have a page here to help you with this task. Write down the years on the first column – from zero, from the day you were born. When did the first stage end? Write it here. Then go on to the next chapters and note the ages each one begins and ends for you. Go on till you reach your present age. You can use any number of chapters or stages that you find suitable for your own life ((Lieblich et al, 1998)
As you read about these family journeys, I invite you to pause and try this exercise alongside . Imagine mapping out the chapters of your own story, noting the milestones, changes, and themes that have shaped who you are today. This reflection can open new ways to connect your experiences with the journeys described here.
The one-page form that was handed included two columns: the left for delineating the stages by age, and the right for providing headings for each one. Before you begin the tasks below, it’s helpful to know that each question is designed to encourage personal reflection on each stage of your life, helping you uncover meaningful memories, influences, and transitions. The directions for the second task were given as follows: “
“ Now, please think about the title you would give each one of these chapters, and write it in the next column.”
1 – Tell about a significant episode or a memory that you remember from this stage
2. What kind of person were you during this stage?
3-Who were significant people for you during this stage, and why?
4-What is your reason for choosing to terminate this stage when you did? (Lieblich et al, 1998)
PARKS AND FAMILY JOURNEYS
Last June (2025) after we visited the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), we walked across to Central Park, NYC, and spent some time in quiet reflection. I remember a sketch study I made in the late afternoon light and saw how sunlight sifted through the branches, the sounds of laughter and distant music mingling in the air, and the feeling of grass under our feet as we paused together.
In that moment, the sensory richness of the park seemed to echo the emotional layers of migration—the comfort of familiar rituals in unfamiliar places, and how a simple act like walking through a park can become an anchor for identity and belonging.
Veterans Park-Elmhurst-Diary-May 2025: Revisiting some walks of past decades
Year Event Memorable person
2010 Shifted to Malta-Sweiqi Vaswani Family
originally from Sindh, British India
2012 Shifted to Ovation, Mississauga Dr. B- an instructor in a Toronto college
2016 Shifted to Candlestick Mississauga Dabeer K- many discussions in Tims
originally from Pakistan
NARRATIVES AND MEMORABLE CAFES
As I made lists, discussed his recent trips, and then reflected on the talks and experiences in different cafes in the Greater Toronto Area, it deepened my thinking about what constitutes an Immigrant identity. These café conversations often mirrored themes discussed by scholars such as Stuart Hall, who emphasized the fluid and negotiated nature of cultural identity. I noticed that the personal stories and exchanges in these spaces sometimes reinforced, and at other times pushed beyond, existing academic perspectives, highlighting both the challenges and creative adaptations that shape immigrant experiences.
SALAD PROTOCOL AND FOUR I (IMMIGRATION-IMAGINATION-INTEGRATION-IN BETWEEN REALITIES
Making Sense of our realities, through Associations, learn new Lessons, and work towards Aspirations. In the lessons learned column, we also listed things we would do differently. (SALAD- Make sense, Associations, Lessons, Aspirations, Do Differently).
The SALAD protocol and the 4 Is (Immigration, Imagination, Integration, In-between realities) came to mind. As I reflected, each “I” conjured a vivid image: for Immigration, the first night Sagar spent in Mississauga, as a young boy of 12, still carrying some of his school notebooks from St.Edward’s college-Cottonera, Malta, sticks in memory; Imagination takes shape in a Port Credit -Mississauga cafe where we started building new connections as he went to Camilla Road and later Glenforest school of Fieldgate drive, dreaming aloud about futures over cups of chai; Integration stands out during a walk in New York Botanical Gardens (June 2025) when I told about my mother-Nirja Bhatt nee Uniyal being a trained botanist and how we built a rock garden in Golibar Maidan, Pune in 1970s; In-between realities is captured in an early morning subway ride between Elmhurst and Manhattan, as we went together to Marble Collegiate church to pray -and I told him of my association with the writings of Dr.Norman Vincent Peale since 1980s-India.
These moments made the abstract framework far more tangible.
Here are some suggestions to shape such a Family Journal
| Sacred spaces and Traditions |
| Name a Sacred space/place associated with the family journey |
My example:
| As we prayed at the Marble Collegiate church, I told of readings of the work of Dr.Norman Vincent Peale, in hostel days in India in the 1980s, and how, during a difficult phase of no proper job or assignment after graduation, every night and morning, I would read a page of affirmations from Dr.Peale’s book on Positive Thinking |
| Generational Journeys and Service |
Ask a family member about a service experience, and how it shaped their identity
| We stayed in Poona, Maharashtra, India, from 1970 onwards, till 1994 .Institutional and organizational memories, the personal family library has been a tradition that my grandparents and parents instilled into us. Our visits to Ajanta Ellora caves of Maharashtra which represent ancient monasteries (Viharas) and worship-halls (Chaityas) of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall of rock are some childhood memories |
Reflection Prompts
Reflect upon identity from these two and go through a piece of literature that talks about migration and identity
In the novel-Inheritance of Loss -by Kiran Desai – Jemmu Bhai Patel went to UK in 1939. He studied and got into the Indian Civil Services. Compare his early years to the way Biju, the Cook’s son, finds his way in New York city in 1980s.
Write an imaginary letter between the young Jemmu Bhai Patel of 1930s to Biju of 1980s.
Download this WORKSHEET- SALAD PROTOCOL, IDENTITY, AND JOURNEYS
Prashant Bhatt's notes 