A sweet and nostalgic ride
Growing up in the 80s and in the 90s Assam, in our Assamese household and Assamese culture Pehi(Dad's younger sister), Mahi(Mom's Younger Sister), Jethai (Mom's elder sister), Mama(Mom's younger or older brother), Khura(Dad's Younger brother), were such an integral part. Reflecting on life and the time we spent together evoked a whirlpool of memories, love, warmth, and kinship. Bridging, building, bonding, teaching, and learning together with those people wove the delicate and comforting blanket of a family. Even though I grew up in a small family, all these people together made up our one large family. After Ma and Deuta, they were equally associated with our lives and upbringing. They assimilate into our happiness and our sadness equally. Like fulfilling little wishes, as getting the best seasonal mango from the market, stitching a dress for you by hand, and celebrating festivals and weddings together. Every summer vacation spending time together, packing food while returning so that you can eat on the way home, collecting your first published write up, helping you buy your wedding trousseau, helping you choose the right lip color when you are shaking with fever coming home to see you right away, the list of selfless love is endless. They stand by as our pillars of support, and we all faced Deuta’s demise together.
Looking back at those times and people always enriches my life with great memories and happy moments. If I consider my life as a beautiful string of pearls, then those people are one pearl each, which completes the string.
Just a few months back lost my dad, I lost my Jethai the other day as well. The irony of life is that it goes on, but without a loved one, a flavor is missing in life. Jethai was the epitome of love and affection, and nothing could fill her void. Her heart and home are always open for family and friends.
These wonderful people are like a shadow in the hot Sun or a May shower in the barren days when it comes to the difficult journey called life. At the same time, in those days, forget smartphones; we didn't even have cell phones, yet our hearts were still deeply connected. How we communicate with each other and understand each other is no advancement of technology could match. In the modern and claustrophobic city life, we are losing, bit by bit, the essence of those Khura-khuri, Peha-pehi, Mama-Mami, Moha-Mahi, and Jethu-jethai in our lives, and the perfect picture of the extended family is silently fading away with the changing times. On the positive note, the legacy of love still remains.
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