Skip to main content

(J) Ba's demise


A family in Gujarat was puzzled when the coffin of their dead mother (Ba) arrived from the US. It was sent by one of her daughters.

The body was very tightly squeezed into the coffin, with no space left at the sides when they opened the lid. A letter on top was addressed to her brothers and sisters.

Dear Chandrakantbhai, Arvindbhai, Smitaben and Varsha,

I am sending Ba's body to you, since it was her wish that she should be cremated in the compound of our ancestral home in Gujarat.

Sorry, I could not come along as all of my paid leave is consumed.

You will find inside the coffin, under Ba's body, cans of cheese, ten packets of Tobler chocolates and 8 packets of badam (almonds). Please divide these amongst all of you.

On Ba's feet you will find a new pair of Reebok shoes (size 10) for Mohan. There are also two pairs of shoes for Radha's and Lakshmi's sons. Hope the sizes are correct.

Ba is wearing 6 American t-shirts. The large size is for Mohan. Just distribute the rest among yourselves.

The two new jeans that Ba is wearing are for the boys.

The Swiss watch that Reema wanted is on Ba's left wrist.

Shanta maasi, Ba is wearing the necklace, earrings and ring that you asked for. Please take them off her.

The six white cotton socks that Ba is wearing must be divided among my nephews.

Please distribute all these fairly.

Love, Sushma.

PS: If anything more is required, let me know soon as Bapuji is also not feeling too well nowadays.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be the change you want to see.

18th April 2016 Arvind and I recently read about the 19 year old who is solving the world’s ocean pollution crisis. Boyan Slat is a Dutch engineering student single handedly developing the gyers (floating booms and processing platforms) which would potentially clean up 20 billion tonnes of plastic from the world's oceans; the plastic which kills millions of animals and damages thousands of cargo vessels every year. Arvind stressed on the fact that he was 19 – he was exceptionally impressed by a kid who showed that much drive, determination and hard work at such a young age. For me, regardless of his age, this was so commendable. The age didn’t matter to me, infact I disagreed with Arvind, and mentioned how adults have it harder to do something for the greater good. Not only are they in a pathetic zone (they have full time jobs!), they also have responsibilities towards their families and are less imaginative and courageous than the youth since they are aware of the hindrances li...
7 comments
Read more

Scrap

As the bus rattled on the potholes of the city road, I heard a clinging in the pocket of the conductor.. I looked around in the dim yellow light, and felt a vision. A tiny silver coin under some seat of this bus was waiting, waiting to be picked up by a man as it glimmered in the darkness of a corner.
2 comments
Read more

How we constantly judge everyone, including ourselves

It's been a while since I wrote something. I went through some old journal entries to instrospect on the kind of person I was back then. Here's one from 26 th July 2014. . . . . . We’ve been in a long on-going period of flat hunting. Now that that’s finally done, we’re all working towards getting a tenant for the current house that the guys lived in. I wonder how long it’s gonna take India to move on and let people live their lives. Basic human rights that people have are not given here. One’s right to have animals in the house; right to live with whomever you want. Right to love someone of the same sex openly, and the right to choose who to be with. Sometimes I look back at myself when I judge someone, and wonder where it’s all coming from. Was it my upbringing? The society? Was it me? There are things I still feel I need to change about my thinking and approach towards other humans. Today evening, I went to buy groceries in Hypercity; we were so out of...
Post a Comment
Read more