Accidentally hit upon singer Chinmayi’s blog (http://chinmayisripada.blogspot.com). To the extent I have read this blog, Chinmayi comes across a no-nonsense,opinionated person (I have not watched any of her shows though). One of her posts on how her grandmother used to feed her made me slightly nostalgic.
Though I have not been blessed with a nice and warm extended family (well, don’t get me started on this topic!) or a huge number of friends, my core family bondages are very strong, touchwood. I have been extremely lucky to share the same warmth with my in-laws as well. Though everyone in my family (i.e Mom, sis,BIL) is very close with me, I want to specifically mention about my sister who has been a guardian angel for me through all my life. I recently read an article about a 10-year kid helping her mom in the kitchen which seemed like a big deal to the magazine that covered this feature. I recollect my sister watching me over and making dosas for me when she was merely in class 4, when my mom was away at work. My sister is still strict with me as she has been right from childhood days. But never, not once, has she failed to support me when I needed.
My most vivid childhood memory is a picture of her feeding me, making little balls of rice and smearing some beans or okra curry on that and handing over the rice balls to me. She would wait patiently till I finish lunch and only after that would she have hers. All these right from school days. Even now after so many years, she feeds me like that (we call it ‘Sadham kaila podarathu’) whenever we are home for lunch. This is one scene in my mind that makes me nostalgic and teary-eyed. To her, I am always her little sister no matter how old I am. To me, she is my alter-ego.
In my family (and more generally, in tamil culture), people are shy about eulogizing their own kinsmen and never even hug each other. I think we as a culture should learn to be more vociferous about our love and affection.
