“We still have its shoe from its breaking in”, continued Nana ji. Suddenly, I stopped laughing and tried to absorb what that meant. An old horseshoe was brought out and passed around the room. It was made of solid iron, and I could still see the ridges on the curved edge. The metal felt cold in my hands while the realisation sank in that I was holding an object which was more than a century old.
When I first came across my mother’s wedding saree, I told her if I ever get married that is what I would wear. She would laugh this off telling me when the time came (and she really hoped it did!) I’d go running to my friends or a fancy boutique and leave her out of this big decision.
My earliest memory of these idols is waking up to pitaji, my paternal grandfather praying to them every morning. The sound of his voice while he tended to these idols was so emotional and loving, that it haunts me till date. Almost as though it was a very private and sacred conversation between them.
Now several years after the death of my grandfather, his medals continue to live in a rectangular wooden box in my grandmother’s house.
She gingerly opened the cover and pressed those keys with a glee that hadn’t graced her face for years. There had been nothing or so little to look forward to for all these long years.
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