{"id":2116,"date":"2018-12-28T13:43:08","date_gmt":"2018-12-28T08:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?p=2116"},"modified":"2018-12-31T09:42:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T04:12:18","slug":"my-fathers-childhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/my-fathers-childhood\/","title":{"rendered":"My father&#8217;s childhood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong>TEXT &amp; PHOTOGRAPHS BY SAYALI GOYAL <br><em>Bathinda, Punjab <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have a faded memory\nof getting out of a train on an early winter morning, around 5 am. I must have\nbeen 8 years old, layered in various sweaters and jackets. My sister was about\n5 and my brother was 2 years old. Our parents held us in one hand and our\nluggage in the other. We got on a rickshaw from the station to get to my\nfather&#8217;s childhood home where now my grandmother lived with my uncles. It was\nin this <em>kothi<\/em>, a haveli like house in Bathinda, Punjab that my\nfather, Subhash Goyal was born on 27 February, 1968. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we were kids, the\nhouse seemed very large to us, probably because we were tiny. Houses in smaller\ntowns were usually larger in construction than city homes. My sister and I invented\nmany games around the many doors and windows in the big house. While the elders\nwould usually be talking, we passed time playing games with the other kids in\nthe street. Breakfast usually included <em>poori\nand aloo<\/em> from a vendor in the main bazaar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1009-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2119\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2119\" class=\"wp-image-2119\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1009-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1009-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1009-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1120-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2121\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2121\" class=\"wp-image-2121\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1120-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1120-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_1120-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I visited Bathinda\nlast year, almost after a gap of eight years. The city now has a mall and some\nrestaurants. My uncles have moved to new modern homes. My cousins have moved\nout to bigger cities for education. But my perspective had changed. The old\ncharming house we lived in two decades ago fascinated me more than the rest of\nthe city. The design of the doors, windows and facades from the 90&#8217;s was\nsomething I wanted to preserve. It is on this trip that I found some family\nbelongings that were around forty years old in an old trunk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both these objects can\nbe traced to my father and belonged to him. My father lost his father (my\ngrandfather) at a very young age, when he was only 16 years old. He didn\u2019t end\nup completing his education and got married when he was only 22 years! Before I\nturned one, my father decided to move to a bigger city as he always wanted to\nmake it big in life and start something of his own. With one trunk of personal\nbelongings, a wife and a child he moved to Delhi in 1991. Initially, we lived\nin a small house which was also my dad&#8217;s office makeshift workshop. A couple of\nyears of hard work&nbsp;and passion, we moved to a bigger house when my sister\nwas born. Both my sister and I were given the opportunity to study in the best\ninstitutions. My father has worked incredibly hard to expand the family business.\nToday, my brother who is 22 years old (the same age my father started the\nbusiness) has also joined him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"816\" height=\"612\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/him-on-his-first-birthday-at-the-family-house.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2123\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2123\" class=\"wp-image-2123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/him-on-his-first-birthday-at-the-family-house.jpg 816w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/him-on-his-first-birthday-at-the-family-house-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/him-on-his-first-birthday-at-the-family-house-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 816px) 100vw, 816px\" \/><figcaption>Subhash Goyal with his extended family, on his first birthday<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/his-first-photo-taken-for-his-passporttrip-to-singapore-and-then-the-photo-taken-to-send-to-my-mother-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2125\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2125\" class=\"wp-image-2125\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/his-first-photo-taken-for-his-passporttrip-to-singapore-and-then-the-photo-taken-to-send-to-my-mother-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/his-first-photo-taken-for-his-passporttrip-to-singapore-and-then-the-photo-taken-to-send-to-my-mother-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/his-first-photo-taken-for-his-passporttrip-to-singapore-and-then-the-photo-taken-to-send-to-my-mother-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>The first photo Goyal took for his passport (L) and the first photo he sent to his future wife (R)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When my father was born, his maternal\nuncle gifted my grandmother a tea set on the occasion of the birth of her\neldest son. Even though the gift was not for the newly born, my father fondly\ntells us how personal gifts were rare. Back in the day, objects that could be\nhousehold assets, like this silver tea set, were very common. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tea set, bought from a local silver\nshop in Bathinda\u2019s Dhobi Bazaar, is made of silver and there are three pieces\nfor milk, sugar and tea. The silver has now oxidised and the set is now almost\nblack in colour. It has been more than fifty years after all! The pieces are\nround, each with handles on the side and beautifully carved in an intricate\nfloral design. The touch of the metal feels cool and the\nengraved floral pattern makes the pieces quite textured. Since the set was kept\nwas in storage for several years, it smells of an old storeroom. A smell of\ndust mixed with metal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nkettle is 4 inches tall and 8 inches wide. The milk and sugar pots are 3 inches\ntall and 4.5 inches wide. There are no scratches or marks on the set and it is\nvery interesting that the insides are shining silver still. The lid of the kettle has come off from the joint, but\nit still sits well on top. It will have to be removed if one were to use it to\nserve.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2-1-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2133\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2133\" class=\"wp-image-2133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2-1-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2-1-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/3-2-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2135\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2135\" class=\"wp-image-2135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/3-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/3-2-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/3-2-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1-2-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2136\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2136\" class=\"wp-image-2136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1-2-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1-2-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Many years later ( in 2008) when I\nvisited his old house to visit my grandmother, I asked for all the vintage\nobjects that they were not using and brought them back to preserve them. In our\nhouse, no one really would value the old, nor find it charming, but I\nimmediately fell in love with this. My father still laughs at my obsession with\nthese old things, but for me, it&#8217;s a little bit of preserving the lost past of\nPunjab and my family.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The watch is made of stainless steel and is a yellow gold with a round dial. The strap is 9 inches long and less than an inch wide. The dial says \u2018Titan Royal\u2019 where the two gold hands rotate and on the back- waterproof, stainless steel is engraved. I remember when I first got this watch from my father about a decade ago, it used to smell of old spice since that is what my father used back in the day. The watch was kept in one of his coat pockets. It doesn\u2019t have the old spice anymore. The gold sheen has faded quite a bit and there are scratches on the dial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My father always&nbsp;wanted a watch. It\nwas one of those things for him that was a benchmark almost of success. He\nstarted to work early in his life but never saved too much for himself. But a\nyear before he got married and on his 21st birthday, he went to Singapore with\nhis friends. That was quite a big deal, almost an accomplishment and he bought\nthis watch to mark that occasion. He wouldn\u2019t wear it daily, but would save it\nfor important occasions. On his wedding day, he wore a white and gold sherwani\nwith this watch. He says after that many watches happened, watches that were\nmore modern and fashionable, but he never had the heart to give this one away.\nIt was his first real expensive possession. I borrowed it from him around 10\nyears ago when I moved abroad and wanted to wear vintage. But I haven\u2019t\nactually worn it. The\nstrap is loose for me but I don\u2019t want to alter the watch in any way so I\nhaven\u2019t got it adjusted. My relationship with my father is definitely a deep one and I am\ndefinitely the most connected to him emotionally. However our relationship is\nof a few words, we hardly express our emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/6-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2137\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2137\" class=\"wp-image-2137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/6-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/6-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/6-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/5-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2138\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2138\" class=\"wp-image-2138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/5-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/5-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/5-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4000\" height=\"6000\" src=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/4-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2139\" data-link=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?attachment_id=2139\" class=\"wp-image-2139\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/4-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/4-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/4-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 4000px) 100vw, 4000px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>No one else in my\nfamily valued these old objects. They were just lying in storage in our family\nhome in Punjab. I have always found vintage objects charming and I am curious\nabout material culture. For me, things I hear about the lost past are stories,\nbut these objects make these stories \u2018real\u2019. Since I never met my grandfather,\nhe is almost like a fictional character for me. These old objects and\nphotographs help me feel closer to him. At present, we have rented out the\nkothi&nbsp;to a family, and sometimes it breaks my heart to think that my\nuncles might renovate it etc. I think if it were in my hands, I would keep it\njust like the way it is. I have memories of my parents holding me in certain\nrooms of that house when I was only a few months old and a memory of my mum\nmaking chai in that tiny kitchen and to imagine anything changing&nbsp;is like\nlosing these vivid memories.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The watch is kept safely in a cotton\npouch in my jewellery box., while the tea set\nsits in my study where I store all my vintage objects, craft collectibles, and\nphotos. Alas, it\u2019s too pretty to be used!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our house, no one really would value the old, nor find it charming, but I immediately fell in love with this [tea set and watch]. My father still laughs at my obsession with these old things, but for me, it\u2019s a little bit of preserving the lost past of Punjab and my family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,10],"tags":[352,355,154,54,358,18,357,56,251,354,356,116,335,353],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2116"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2176,"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116\/revisions\/2176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}