August 10, 2016 – And one more day, Patansaongi, Maharashtra, India

A hard day to live!
A day in the making for more than a decade!
Filled with both fear and excitement, I didn’t know how to express what I was actually feeling during this day.

I was dreading that this day would come. This day was always in the back of my mind, even when I was enjoying in Goa with friends, when I visited my college roommates in Pune, and when I went out with my school friends, the fear of this day arising never left my mind and heart and prayed about delaying the arrival of this day quite ferociously.
Wish life would have been this simple! Am I right?

So, the day started with hanging out with family and enjoying some beautiful and delicious breakfast with the entire family together. My sister, Minu Tai, visited for a couple days to be with everyone before I left India. I really loved that gesture and her thoughtfulness behind that. I wouldn’t have guessed, even tried, doing that, as I usually think from the mind than from the heart.

At the back of my mind, I always had this thought that the four of us – myself, Minu Tai, Shubhu Tai, and Dikshu Tai, were together might be for the last time before I return from the US, so I wanted to make the best of it. We gossiped, laughed, and had a good time. We reminisced all the good old memories with each other and tried spending every minute with each other.
By the time the noon hit, it was time for Minu Tai to leave for Bangalore unfortunately. I drove her to Nagpur from where she was supposed to board a bus which would take her to Bangalore. It was an emotional goodbye with a promise to see each other soon.

This is the last memory I had of her when we bade our goodbyes.

While returning home, I thought of stopping at my coaching classes. It was supposed to be a quick 5-10 minute visit as I had some other things to take care of, but I ended up spending at least half an hour there, talking to my teachers and current students. It wasn’t what I wanted but felt better to know that I was benefitting someone by giving my time.
Before heading home, I somehow managed to click this picture, to give myself a gentle reminder of the time and place that I have come from. I remember I used to go to the same coaching class and used to sit in a similar way. It is both humbling and proud to see how far I have come!

After this, the afternoon was spent at home packing and savoring some delicious food made by my Mom. I knew my Mom would cook something that I love eating and I didn’t mind enjoying the delicious food, which I was not sure when I would be able to eat again.

This evening was already planned with some of the most extraordinary traditions of my village. When I was a kid, I remember participating in this with my friends. Back in those days, you knew almost everyone in the village so you really didn’t need adult supervision and someone that you remotely knew by face used to take care of you if you seem lost or needed some help. Just thinking about this brought back so many memories for me over the years.

This year’s festivities turned out to be magical affair for me, as it was the last festivities I attended till date in my village and I am not sure when I will get a chance to repeat this feat. Over the last decade or so, many of the things have changed and many people have been replaced, but this being one of the oldest traditions in my village, has been kept alive by people, community and the village officials. I feel so proud and humble at the same time just to observe the intense care people show towards each other when they come together to celebrate, something that I miss really desperately here in the US.

I visited the spot from where the gathering was supposed to kick off. In my mother tongue, which is Marathi, this gathering is called Dindi. So, I reached the spot where the Dindi was about to start and was greeted by a sea of people. Having spent almost 2-3 years in Bangalore, which is a Metro City, this crowd made the Bangalore IT employee crowd looked cute. It was amazing to watch. At the very beginning of this Dindi, I saw a couple kids holding a huge banner depicting the name of their band.
Here’s what it looked like.

After greeting a few people, I was pleasantly surprised to see my Dad’s friends being part of the crowd. You can see them in the below picture. My Dad owns a grocery store back home and all these people live minutes away from the store, so they knew me since young age and I knew them by their faces. Everyone looking sharp and all ready to start the Dindi.

This Dindi took almost an hour and a half to go from its starting point temple to the other temple which is also in the village, spending some time at that temple and then returning back to the origin temple and then again doing Pooja and Aarti at the origin temple. It was both exhausting and mind blowing to be the part of that crowd but I went through the entire experience just to have that memory with me and hopefully, cherish it for some years to come.

As the temple where the Dindi ended was super close to the house where I grew up and my Grandma still living in that house, naturally, she invited me over for dinner and I couldn’t refuse it even though it would mean her going to extreme lengths just to make sure her grandson eats food cooked by her.

I must say she put her heart and soul in cooking such a beautiful and delicious treat and I loved it. I still have that taste with me and just couldn’t resist overeating myself because I never knew when the next time would come I would get to experience the same.
I know we shouldn’t compare granny’s love, but I cannot help myself saying that I being the eldest of my generation, it is safe to say, I am her favorite grandkid. I know my sisters will get mad at me while reading this (if they do read my blogs).

And this is my grandma and grandpa. Our grandfather left us when I was just a couple years old. I clicked the picture of my grandma when she was serving me dinner. She looked really tired and I pitied her. Even after requesting her to sit and let me serve myself, she said THIS MIGHT BE THE LAST DINNER I MIGHT SERVE YOU, SO, LET ME SERVE! I did docile to her polite request and enjoyed the lovely meal made by her.

After finishing dinner, we talked for some time and then took her blessings before I headed home. She had so many questions about “Amrika” as she used to pronounce. It was both funny and awesome to answer her questions and have some good grandma-grandson bonding.
I miss these times.

Reflecting upon on this day made me realize how far I have come physically, but not mentally or emotionally. I am still the same guy when it comes to emotions and would like to keep it that way.
More to come!

See ya! 🙂