Who loved you into Being-Mother’s day-2020

It takes one person, to inspire a world of kindness

* * *

My mother was my first teacher.

She would read the different lessons, prepare notes and then explain to them.

In a way- she taught all subjects to me. She also taught me to be organized.

When I visit our family home in Palam-India I come across her notes-logs of works done in house-the list of boxes to be packed (in the different shiftings we did as a military family). I could have brought those log books and note books with me to Mississauga-Canada. But I let them remain there- as they are part of the family archives which I have been maintaining in Palam. That sense of connection will remain through those note books.

SOME EXAMPLES

Logs of relations

 Who visited- for how many days- what we ate together- where we went-National Museum-2002

How we went to Srinagar-Garhwal- for what- whom we met- 1999.

How we had dinner at Rishikesh-Garhwal- where we walked-Chotiwala- 2000.

Log of works done-

How much money was given to  Mr.A to repair the front door-1996.

How many boxes of Paint were bought, who was paid how much-for the paintings of house-2007

Who gave how much rent-where did it go? How was it distributed in savings-2006

The family momentoes- and how my mother was linked with them- whom I gave them away to

-My grandfather’s eye cleaning piece- which I gifted to her youngest sister In 2011- after she passed away

-The Buddha bust- my gift to her- when I last met her-2009- I gifted that to my father’s sister, when I met her in 2013

-My father’s emergency kits- for resuscitation – Some of those are still in Palam, some I gave to my brother-in-law who himself is a Cardiac Anesthetist (like my father)

– The Doll which she gave me-when I was a pre-schooler- That I have still kept in the house in Palam- as a symbol and memory of the times when we used to stay in Khadki cantonment area-Pune-1970

IN POPULAR CULTURE-A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

It takes one person, to inspire a world of kindness

In 1998, Lloyd Vogel is an Esquire journalist known for his cynical writing style. He attends his sister Lorraine’s wedding, along with his wife, Andrea, and their newborn son, Gavin. During the reception, Lloyd starts a fistfight with his estranged father, Jerry, over memories of Lloyd’s deceased mother Lila, whom Jerry cheated on and abandoned.

As Lloyd tries to interview Mr.Rogers to prove that his kindness is just a made-up act, many layers of relationships are revealed.

Lloyd refuses to remain overnight at the hospital with the rest of the family and returns to Pittsburgh to see Rogers. Exhausted, Lloyd collapses on the set of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and dreams about his repressed childhood trauma. In his dream, he stumbles into an episode of Rogers’ show about hospitals, finding himself wearing rabbit ears and shrunken to the size of Daniel Striped Tiger and King Friday XIII, while Rogers and Andrea tower over him.

Lloyd also dreams about Lila, who urges him to release his anger.

(one of the pivotal moments in the movie-a mother giving the message of forgiveness and kindness to her son- who still holds a lot of resentment, anger towards his father)

Rogers and his wife, Joanne, bring Lloyd to their home to recuperate. Lloyd and Rogers later go to a restaurant, where Rogers asks Lloyd to spend one minute thinking about the people who “loved him into being,” and encourages him to forgive Jerry.(1)

TRAILER

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

Rogers and François Clemmons reprising their famous foot bath in 1993. The 1969 scene was a message of inclusion during an era of racial segregation

By Dr. François S. Clemmons – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41429120

PREVIOUS PERSPECTIVES-A walk in the world of Sophia McNab-1846

Last year 2019-around Mother’s day, we went for a walk through Dundurn Castle. We got the diary of Sophia McNab- the daughter, written in 1846-the year her mother passed away. A touching account of the way life was in that period, the pages give an intimate inner view of a family which shaped the Canada of today in many ways.

WHAT WILL WE BE ABOUT…THIS TIME NEXT YEAR..Around Mother’s Day-2019

WHAT WILL WE BE ABOUT-THIS TIME NEXT YEAR…This question asked by Lady McNab to her daughter Sophia-in Jan 1846-the year she passed away, made me think of how the world has changed since last year-2019. If someone would have told us that around this time -2020-we would be in lockdown and not be able to go freely for walks in Dundurn area of Burlington Heights, it would have sounded far fetched.

As a family, we went through some interesting discussions, based on the theme of forgiveness and recovery based on the  movie-A Beautiful day in the Neighborhood.

This made us look and follow these words in a deeper sense

Anger not transformed, is transmitted.

                                                Rick Reynolds, Family Therapist

KEEPING LOGS AND NOTES

Carrying forward the lessons my mother taught me, I have been keeping some logs of the progress I am making in cleaning and arranging my backyard garden in Mississauga. It is a work in progress. The lessons she taught me by her example remain.

My sister saw this arrangement, and commented that it reminds her of some of the gardens we used to see in Pune Cantonment area in 1970s.

My mother would have been happy to hear that.

GARDEN 2020-PHASE 1

GARDEN-LOG-MISSISSAUGA-MAY 2020- Phase 1-
My mother, was a trained Botanist, and we arranged many gardens in the cantonments of Pune and Delhi area. The Rock Garden which my mother arranged in Golibar Maidan-Pune-1970s – is still fresh in my memory

NOTES

1-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Beautiful_Day_in_the_Neighborhood

Posted in COVID19 Lockdown notes, Diary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gratitude Texts

Combining the Gratitude Texts Club with the 5 Am club led to some interesting results

GRATITUDE TEXT- Write a gratitude text daily. A good friend advised, elaborating that one cannot feel bad and feel grateful at the same time

FIVE AM CLUB- REMEMBERING MY MENTORS.

I belong to the 5 am club.

The first person of this club I came to know- was my father- an army doctor, who gave me the gift- of the morning hour, when night turns into day. In these times of COVID19 lockdown, when I do not have to get up to go for work-my family members were wondering if this 5 AM club would sustain.

It has.

One of my heroes- did not belong to the 5 AM Club. He was part of the 4 AM Club.

Before the morning walk, (6 am) he had already done some readings, reflections.

His instructions- before starting a session of study try to revise what you did in the previous session- what are your goals-aims of the present study session, and after the study session is over- try to see the points which you have studied and tidy up your desk and work place- have stood the test of time.

This person was my maternal grandfather- and over the years, through talks with extended family, I have come to know many different aspects of his life, the times in which he lived-the India of the 1940s/50s/60s..and what family life was at that time, and now, looking back-over the decades, one can see the shape of things to come.

GRATITUDE FOR GIFT OF THE WRITTEN WORD

Before I entered school, my parents got an encyclopedia for us. I read most of it over the years, and that gave me the gift of the love of the written word. This has stayed with me through the years.

RUSKIN BOND.

One of my all time favourites, reading Ruskin Bond books gave a better sense of connection to the Hills of Uttarakhand, from where our family is originally from. We are Garhwalis- though a part of our family shifted to Shimla- the capital of British India- and we had a house in Upper Kaithu Bazaar.

Took out my copy of -Rain in the Mountains- and went to the woods nearby and went through these words of Virginia Woolf written in 1932- written by Ruskin in his notebook in the 1950s- which are a great credo to live by

  I have sometimes dreamt that when the Day of Judgment dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statemen come to receive their rewards- their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble- the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when He sees us coming with our books under our arms,

“Look, these need no reward.

We have nothing to give them here.

They have loved reading.”




VIRGINIA WOOLF-(1932) Quoted in Rain In Mountains-Ruskin Bond

“Look, these need no reward.
We have nothing to give them here.
They have loved reading

SISTERHOOD

2016-DECEMBER-PALAM- with Saraswati Buaji- The Sisterhoods
2016-DECEMBER-WITH SARASWATI BUA-JI..Palam Vihar-B Block garden

 My grandfather’s sister was married to a family in Meerut region. I have no living memory of my paternal grandfather, as I was around a year old when he passed away. However, listening to the talks of elder cousins, I came to know about the family’s relations and extended networks in Northern India region. One of them was the sister of the Bhatt brothers of Upper Kaithu Bazaar-Shimla. That sister’s grandson- is my dear Devraj Bhai. He sends me pictures – from his garden- Gudhal (Hibiscus) and we shared so many intimate family details.

On a trip to India-2016-December- I sat with my aunt- in the B Block Garden of Palam Vihar and we talked about old times gone by, remembered my parents. She is a life long educator, a Phd in Two subjects and told her name is mentioned in her department even now, after many decades of her retiring. Doctorate in Literature and Education. These teachings she passed on to her children ,grandchildren in many different ways.

Many lovely memories

Apart from the love of the written word- one of the things she has imbibed in her children is Compassion.

Moti- a dog who lives near his house- the dog does not have any particular master, but comes to different houses. One day -Moti- was run over by a vehicle and suffered fracture of the legs.

MOTI-PALAM-National Capital Region-Delhi-India-Man's best friend-Jan 2020
MOTI-PALAM-National Capital Region-Delhi-India-Man’s best friend-Jan 2020

Devraj Bhai wrote about the treatment he got for a Moti

Dec 5-2019- Moti had an accident

Dec 12-2019-Was operated in a clinic in Moti Bagh

Jan 21-2020- Pin Removed

Feb 20-2020- Discharged from personal care of Devraj bhai

BROTHERHOODS-Devraj Bhai Sahib-Palam-India
BROTHERHOODS-DEVRAJ BHAI..Many lessons in Compassion and Patience

CONNECTION

Great writers help us connect with different aspects of Humanity. We study literature to explore, experiment, expand.

Shakespeare’s – Prospero wrote

            We are such stuff

            As dreams are made on

            And our little life

            Is rounded with a sleep.

Our experience of the world is limited by time and place, and even the most resolute traveler can only superficially come to know the complex blends of cultures that make up our world.

As I went to the Lake near our house in the Naturalization zone –(Jan’s trail-Mississauga). Coming to know the story of Jan- made us connect with the history of Russian empire, the second world war.and the persons who made Ontario-Canada and the world we live in. This also reminded me of another Polish immigrant- who was the first Chairman of the Niagara Parks Commission -Casimir Gzowski.

The Lake at Jan’s trail has been one of our Thinking places over the years.

THINKING PLACES-

In John Maxwell’s book on Thinking- he says that if we get deliberate about having a place and time to think, and intentionally go there and think- it will help us expand our thinking. This suggestion has helped in many different ways over the years.

Here are some of the Thinking places and associated themes

2017- Discussing -A Passage to India-E M Forster- and the characters within

A girl walked into a cave-and a whole Empire shook…E M Forster’s -A Passage to India


Port Credit-area with its many parks and historic monuments, houses has been one of our favourite thinking places over the years.



2019- Museum Societies- Royal Ontario Museum- intimate association since 2013.

Here in 2019-we attended a special exhibition on Jodhpur. I told my sons about our family connection with Jodhpur- their Bua-ji (Aunt) was born there on Feb 10,1969.

ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM-2019-Special exhibition on Jodhpur -Treasures in a Desert Kingdom

THEME OF GRATITUDE-TEXTS- SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS.

In these times of COVID19 lockdown, my friend helped me with a great idea- write a Gratitude text. This made me reflect on some Brotherhoods, Sisterhoods, Museum Societies , Five Am clubs, Libraries and walks for which I am grateful for.

Do you have a place, person, theme, institution, principle and related memory for which you are grateful for?

 

Notes

1-Jan’s Trail

Żurakowski was born in 1914 to Polish parents in Ryzawka,[1] which had been a city of the Russian Empire since 1793 when it was removed from Poland in the Second Partition.

For further details -see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_%C5%BBurakowski

2-Niagara Parks Commission

On March 20th 1885, Premier Mowat introduced the “Niagara Falls Park Act – an Act for the Preservation of the Natural Scenery about Niagara Falls”. It was passed into law on March 30th 1885.
Casimir Gzowski became the first chairman of the Niagara Falls Park Commission. Other founding members included John Langmuir and John G. MacDonald.
https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/the-history-of-niagara-parks-commission/the-beginning-of-the-niagara-parks/

3- Royal Ontario Museum – Exhibition-on Jodhpur

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions-galleries/exhibitions/rajasthan

Posted in COVID19 Lockdown notes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sisterhoods

Frank Mckechnie woods-Mississauga-April 2020
BILU-KEDAR MANDIR-SRINAGAR-PAURI GARHWAL-UTTARAKHAND-2011-October

BILU-KEDAR MANDIR-SRINAGAR-PAURI GARHWAL-UTTARAKHAND-2011-October

What they don’t realize is that these small, seemingly insignificant steps completed consistently over time will create a radical difference.

 

Hardy, Darren.

The Compound Effect (p. 10). Vanguard Press. Kindle Edition.

 

The Compound Effect can be applied to many things- one of them- relationships. Have a touch-base every fortnight, and getting current- to what is happening in the lives of our near and dear ones. This nourishment helps us connect.

Around the birthday of my cousin sister-I rang her up and many memories came alive. She told me that I could use the pictures sent by her, but with proper privacy settings. So I decided not to use any such pictures which could cause confusion later. But I spent some time thinking of Sisterhoods and how these impact us.

HUNTSVILLE-ONTARIO-CANADA-2017-August

HUNTSVILLE-ONTARIO-CANADA-2017-August

PRESENT-

As we went through the motions of how life is around COVID19 lockdown, she gave me some important tips about recipes- and gardening.

 Over the past few months, she sent me some pictures, one of the most memorable being seeing my aunt and my grandmother’s sister walking -their profiles taken from behind, and she asked me to identify who they were. I could easily tell who they were, and many memories, family stories came alive.

We go back a long way.

PAST-WALKS IN HIMALAYAS

During a walk towards the woods near our house, we recalled previous such walks.

One of the most memorable ones recalled was in 2006-May- along the Ganga across Laxman Jhula of Rishikesh-India. There are ashrams there for spiritual retreats. However, whenever I have gone to this area (over past forty years) I have stayed away from any organized religion-and connected directly with the Universal spirit.

As we walked, I told of another Sisterhood.

KARANPRAYAG-UTTARAKHAND-INDIA-2016-November

KARANPRAYAG-UTTARAKHAND-INDIA-2016-November

My paternal grandmother- passed away when my father was around 4 years old. That was the Shimla of the 1940s- the summer Capital of British India. Many decades later, a life time actually-when I went to my ancestral village near Srinagar Garhwal- Uphalda-near the bridge connecting Kirtinagar and Srinagar, we stayed in the house of my father’s Mamaji- the brother of my grandmother. He was a quiet man- and his profile was so similar to that of my father.

The sisterhood came alive in many ways.

As we walked across the woods, a squirrel running towards us, I told of my father’s uncle, his daughters and our links with the Himalayas- to the villages on the banks of the Alaknanda river-before the Ganga forms at Devprayag.

After my father passed away, my mother got a lot of emotional support from the Joshi family of Srinagar. This was the family in which my Father’s uncle’s daughter was married. She used to visit them regularly – for a retreat plus emotional check-in. Many of the things which she shared with them, probably she did not share with others in the plains.

ALAKNANDA-Chamoli District-Uttarakhand-India-2016-November

In 2011-October, after the war in Libya, when I visited India, the first thing I did was go to the ancestral village-in the Himalayas. This time, my sister helped me perform the prayers for my mother who had passed away in June that year.

The sisterhood came alive in many ways.

SMALL STEPS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME

As I talked about the walks in Himalayas, one step at a time, I recalled these sisterhoods and how the family institution connects generations across continents.

A life time ago, my father started taking me for walks in the hills, first the Western Ghats-of Maharashtra- The Sahyadris and then the Hill Temples around Shimla and Rishikesh. Those lessons , talks, memories of sisterhoods and associations came alive in many different ways

 

Earlier perspectives

Walkers in Lullanagar- 2008

https://prashantbhatt.com/2 008/08/19/walkers-at-lullanagar/

Walks by the Alaknanda-2011

https://prashantbhatt.com/2011/10/18/walks-by-alaknanda/

Walks in Fall-Mississauga-2016

https://prashantbhatt.com/2016/11/17/walks-in-fall-2016/

 

Ras Al Hilal, Eastern Libya-2006-October

Posted in COVID19 Lockdown notes, Walks | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment