When we were kids, our favourite day was; Sunday. This Sunday used to be so precious because we could spend more time in bed, we could watch an extra hour of television and out of all these things there was one more thing that I loved and that was to hold my grandfather’s finger and roam around in the village visiting all the temples.
The first temple used to be of Ganpati, then Mahadev, then Khandoba & in the end was Shanidev. After having a good time with all the gods, my grandfather used to meet his friends for chitchat. Just next to their chitchat corner was a small candy shop and my grandfather knew, all my attention was on the candies packed in the boxes. Every time he used to surprise me by giving me some candies. This was my only intention for a stroll with him on Sunday. On our way back home, he used to tell me short tales from Ramayana & Mahabharata. I used to get lost in those stories. His narration was always dramatic, I used to be amused by his efforts.
Just like every Sunday, we were returning home & I was holding his finger, I saw a huge Banyan tree. Its roots were hanging big and spread across. I had seen this giant tree for the first time. I asked my grandfather, why was that tree so different. He said, “Those are the prop roots, they hang from the branches and goes back to the soil and the tree can thus spread across.” It was very confusing for my child brain to understand & he guessed it. He further said, “Imagine the tree being me, the branches are your father, uncle & aunts. And those prop roots are all my darling grandkids including you.” His answer was so satisfying. I kept thinking about it the whole day.In summer vacation all my uncle & aunts used to visit us. It used to be one big party time for all of us. So many people living together under one roof; giggling, fighting, playing pranks, stealing food, we all did everything that cousins do. As we grew up, our summer vacations started fading. Now all of us have grown up, we all have our own kids. We all meet each other on family functions and now our kids play the way we used to. We stay connected through social media, we plan outings, click photos, scan through the old ones.
However busy we are in our life, there is always a minute, to stop and cherish old & new relationships. My grandfather is not with us anymore, but that banyan tree is still standing there, bigger and wider than it was then just like all of us together. Few branches have broken but they have not disappeared from our memories. And it is our responsibility to explain what a banyan tree is to our offspring.
Diary of a typical Housewife 