A few days back, as I was having a conversation with my father, I switched between Marathi and English, seamlessly. That was kinda strange, since most conversations with my dad and siblings are in English. With my mom, niece and brother-in-law it’s English garnished with a good dose of Kannada and Hindi.
Dad had developed an age related hearing loss and so we got him hearing aids which he so hates to wear - “that lady(audiologist) cheated us”. On this particular day, I assumed he had his hearing aid on and spoke in my usual pitch and volume, but all I got from him was a confused stare! I realised he was trying to lip read and since I was switching between two languages, he was lost. And then he told me, “Please tell me which language you wish to speak in before you start talking!” Both of us laughed. How do you tell an ageing parent to do what s/he must!
My dad’s sense of humour is intact. A conversation with my niece :
Dad - Why don't you write?
Niece - I have nothing to say!
Dad - But you must…it’s right to write or you’ll be left!
Yeah, right!
2017 was a wonderful year. It was a time for consolidation and moving forward. I found myself in the midst of some really lovely people - Vijaya, Sudha, Shefali, Manjul, Rama, Achintya, Sowmya…And the memories of the ones I lost - Ramesh Sharma..
Ever since Spooky was detected with a spinal problem, I have had to take him regularly to the vet for therapy. I actually look forward to these visits to be in the company of all those animals and their parents. The conversations are all animal-centric and one might thing we were all eccentric! (Ishsh, my dad’s sense of humour makes an appearance every now and again!) On one such visit I met Deepa, who had brought her eleven year old lab for chemotherapy. We got along instantly - I guess a common suffering makes for a great bond. She lost her baby a few weeks thereafter. In many ways, Rusky reminded me of Casper…Deepa and I continue to remain in touch.
I’ve had lovely conversations with people on how education is going to be a lot more expensive, how new age math. tutoring is actually doing more damage to the learning of mathematics, inter alia, and I have also made good progress on my own research on pharmaceutical regulations. Friends and family have been the wind beneath my wings and I am thankful for their presence in my life. I find myself in a very content space and my prayers are all about thanking God; I have nothing to ask of Her/Him. |
| (that's me with the flowers adorning my hair!) |
I hosted a music concert at home on a cold winter morning and felt the lovely reverberation of music in the house. I also had the honour of felicitating Ustad Shahid Parvez and Pt. Ravindra Yavagal at another concert.
As if to end the year with a ‘bang’, I managed to fracture my little toe. When I mentioned that to Adit and Rakesh at the gym, they couldn’t stop laughing. But I’ve realised the importance of the little toe! May be it was its way of telling me not to take it for granted…
Looking forward to more such in 2018!
No comments:
Post a Comment