Recently when I boarded a flight from Hong Kong and went back to celebrate my grandfather’s 100th birthday on 10-February 2013 at Amalner my hometown, I first time thought about him in so much depth. Wow 100 years ! I wondered what it would mean to have lived a century, seeing things change from 1913 to 2013. Watching people come and go by leaving you alone. Coping up with emotions all the time by the loss of old ones and yet keeping hopes high for the new ones joining the family.
I had never questioned him on anything in a manner of interview, neither have I seen many events happening in his life. I remember him to be the same person he has always been. Already retired,accustomed to a daily schedule of pooja, reading, walking and once in a while losing temper over smallest possible things. We call him Baba, someone taken for granted, for being around for us, forever !
Whenever in good mood he reminiscesold times and tells us some stories, based on which I have built up my imagination of what our Roots could have been…
I am not sure to what depth one should go to find one’s roots, Do roots really matter? Do they really have the significance we attach them to? Aren’t we here only for limited time & may very well be content knowing past 2 generations and future 2 generations. Do we really know our ancestors names beyond say 5-6 generations? What impact do their lives, actions, thoughts, legacies have been on us? Even if they were the greatest of their time, what right do we have to bask in the past glory? On the contrary if they were the evils of their time, aren’t we conveniently flexible enough to forget about them?
When I was around 5 years of age, I recall seeing some people coming from Rajasthan to our hometown and tell us about our ancestors, they were called Bhaats, The human forms of Facebook wallsand Google plus history of the long generations. They would carry a big record book of family history and note down updates of new arrivals. I enrolled in their list too. But I never saw them again. May be their next generation chose to create their own history of progress rather than keeping track of others.
So as the story goes, we came from Rajasthan to Maharashtra in 19th Century sometime, which should approximately be around 1850s.My great – great grandfather must have been businessman/trader, what else would make him cross 2 states on camel back alongwith big group of family members? We do not know why did they leave Rajasthan and came to Maharashtra, It could be trade or could be severe draught & whydidn’t they ever go back? My hypothesis which slightly tilts towards humor is that the camels either died or ran away leaving them right on the border of Maharashtra and Gujarat. What else do you do? You find nearest place to settle down, so did they. There is nothing we can complain about, though “wouldn’t it have been a lot nicer to travel a few hundred kilometers more and to settle around a city of IT parks where their 6th generation would fight hard to buy properties worth gold, some160 years later ?”
As time passed by they settled in a small village and started agriculture, trading in food grains in local market. It was not as glorious as their days back home in Rajasthan had been, but nevertheless they started from scratch and set up something to work upon. There were a lot others who had followed their path of migration too, who later became their close relatives. Hence born a small community who over the span of next 150 years not only lost contact with their roots, but also did not formally join any local communities in the new region. I always wonder what kept them away from mixing completely. A small group of people with hybrid cultural traditions probably taking best of both worlds.The journey would later take them to bigger towns, cities and countries after 6 generations.
I really wish to go back tracing their route & find out where they came from. It may not make much difference to the legacy they have already left behind, but would prove to be a great tribute to the long travel they started & we continue.
We all should look back & give it a thought, our respective ancestors might all be ordinary people who did not have made much difference to the world but made enough for everyone of us, who carry similar legacy of wilful or circumstantial choices made centuries ago, for which we are here today.
Btw just don’t get stuck in past …wonder where the upcoming 6th generation in 2150 would be? My guess is Mars !
(Feb 2013)
Devendra.blog 