happy birthday nana – this comes 12 years too late, years during which i’d try to piece together a picture of you from stories of those who knew you – from the eyes of your children & closest family, nani mama & the khalas. my own memories of you are from a time when i was barely 3ft high, but those times that i can never go back to, i'll cherish forever. like when you gave me Rs20 but it was in 2 notes of 10 and i couldnt remember what 10 plus 10 was so i ran around the house brandishing the notes and announcing at the top of my lungs, nana gave me ten ten rupees!!! (you could buy a lot with that back then). or your habit of making friends with the needy and chatting with them wherever you could. and how every ramadhan you’d organise iftar in the driveway for the drivers of the whole street, and i’d be thrilled to run around taking plates of fruit – i remember the melons vividly – and samosas and jugs of rooh afza. or the 9th muharram juloos when you were giving out food in the middle of the crowd: me, feeling special that I was allowed to go with you but also desperately trying to breathe – being 3 feet and all. or at the farm when once the well was built, you showed me how to make a wish and toss a coin into it over my shoulder. mine never landed much as i’d try, so you picked me up and put me on your shoulder and finally, i heard the splash. or the morning of my (5th?) birthday, when i woke up to you singing happy birthday and my eyes opened to everyone gathered around me and presents strewn near me. or your insistence on eating after eights (the chocolate) only, of course, after 8. so mint chocolate being my favourite flavour, we'd all stare earnestly at the clock till it struck 8pm. or when you'd throw big bonfire parties at the farm with extended family and the fire always scared me ??? or when once you were resting and i brought my colouring next to you – it was a bunch of grapes, and i was doing it pretty clumsily, and you took it from me and showed me how to do each circle individually patiently neatly. (continued⬇️) https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-tGODJq4ztibcrkxK70USivftQkHGwBouwHE0/?utm_medium=tumblr
