Native Soil

When a plant is uprooted from its native soil and taken to a new place, it will carry some soil attached to its roots. That soil helps the plan in getting adjusted to the new soil it is planted in, provides the necessary nutrition during the transition phase and till the time the plant is acclimated to the new conditions. And in the process the soil from the old land mixes with the soil from the new place and work on a common goal of ensuring the growth of the plant.

If that old soil was not there with the roots; frail and fragile with the shock of being uprooted; the plant will wither and perish. That native soil stays with the plant during those friable days.  Eventually it mixes into the plant as a part of its being, ensuring it grows in the new soil.

In a similar fashion when people move from their native land to a new world; one feels frail and overwhelmed in the new environment. The traditions and the rituals of the land one left are just like the native soil for the plant during those days of frailty. The daily rituals and the traditions based on the region or religion; the family memoirs (mostly mental) and the festivals of the native land provide the strength that one needs during those times.

Like that native soil dissolves and mixes with the new soil and also with the plant's body, the same way the festivals and the traditions from the native land do mix with that of the new world. The rituals are altered somewhat and the traditions tweaked to adjust in the new settings, at the same times maintaining the essence of the original festivals.

13^th of January every year people celebrate the festival of Winter (Lohri) in North India with bonfires, dances, good food and a lot more. At the same time kids fly kites of all colors in the day in Amritsar coloring the sky with the bright collage of the kites. I know you are thinking that I am thousands of miles away and couldn’t possibly have seen that sight yesterday, but honestly I did see it. All I had to do was to close my eyes and connect to the native soil that I brought with me years ago thankfully stuck to my very core.

I could see the kids and the kites and the long strands of the thread soaked in an improvised mixture of color, thread strengtheners, powdered glass and the secret ingredients (every kid has a secret ingredient to prepare his thread so that he can beat everyone in the neighborhood) I heard the loud music blasted from thousands rooftops. I heard the screams “Ayeee Boeeeeee!” after the kites were cut from the threads and left to float in the air, and those kids with long sticks chasing the kites in the street. The cool shades on the eyes, the gestures, the glances and the hidden messages that adolescent kids are sharing from the rooftops. Mothers bringing all meals on the roof as no one has any intention to go down to eat. The never ending snack pile of peanuts, popped corn, rewari and Gazzak (candies made with sugar or jaggery with sesame seeds coating). All that and more treasured in my mind, a part of the native soil.

I will pass it on to the next generation as they are my extension, they have my DNA so their roots; similar to mine may need some minerals from the same native soil that I needed for my growth. As with the strength in the roots the saplings can grow into big trees and rise towards the skies so every bit of that native soil is important. Sharing that soil of traditions I brought from many miles away is my responsibility towards them.

While I was getting drifted into thoughts about the need for the soil of traditions for the new seeds; something shook me out. A loud scream, so lively and so joyous “KAI PO CHE!!!”; those are my cousins on their rooftops, the calendar has moved one day ahead and it is another day of festivities more in the western India; similar tradition; same joy; same kites and same snacks and meals on the terrace. Just a different state and a different name for the festival and a different 'War Cry'; Kai Po Che!!

Not that I miss all that a lot; since I have carried a piece of those traditions with me; an abundant portion of Native Soil………….

Welcome

In the middle of huge fanfare and shows and lights and fireworks, the calendar turned page and a year went to eternal sleep under the sheets of history. The folding of the pages always has the big promise hidden in it; and the promise is when one page is turned and put to rest the story continues on the next, and the next page always picks up from where the outgoing one had left at. Like a good story teller every closing chapter holds surprise, some anxiety, hope and a bang at the end urging the reader to turn the leaf and look at the next page.

So from the fireworks at Sydney to ball drop at New York and a million festivities in between; the old year ended and the new one started with a bang (or for all my friends and family from India it rather started with a Dhoom).

Last year brought many ups and downs. Many flows and ebbs witnessed from the shores and many faced head-on being in rough waters. Failures and triumphs; sorrows and joys; gains and losses; life and death all and more had been the acme of the year that went past.

But then that is what every year before that had brought with it, certainly in different proportions for each ingredient but none the less all same ingredients. Closely inspecting the ingredients of the past year and years before that; they are exactly same as that in the recipe of life. So every passing year is a small serving of life itself.

While I bid adieu to the last year; I thank almighty for a year that in spite of many ups and down was; on the whole; worthwhile. One major loss last year that is irreversible, but again there must have been some reason for that in the bigger scheme of things from God.

As I Welcome the New-year I pray for another wonderful year ahead.  Being ready for another serving of life packed in a year, with all its ups and downs and everything else; I pray that the sum total of the things stay positive and I pray for strength to accept the losses and strength to celebrate the gains. I pray for being able to give love and being worthy of getting love. I pray for being able to give back something to the world around me.  I pray for the world to become a better place for me, my family, my friends and everyone. I pray that my kids and their whole generation and the generations that follow theirs always get days and years more peaceful and more joyous than before and it keeps on getting better, starting this year.

So Welcome this year with me while I Pray that You have a Great Year.

Amen!!!!  

PS: Prayers for my friend whose family suffered a lot during Typhoon Haiyan. May your folks get all the strength they need to rebuild what was lost