When people meet me for the first time, they won’t know that I . . . ~ Swallowed my mother’s wedding ring when I was about four. Sucked it off her finger while playing with her hand, lying in bed. ~ Landed barefoot on jagged tree stump while playing in the garden one summer afternoon and yelped into space with part of the stump piercing the bottom of my foot.
Splendid, most especially this: "Have come full circle: I remember being maybe five or six. Holding my father’s left hand. We are going to cross the widest street in Calcutta at that time ---Chowringhee, in what the Brits called “white town” where stood the Great Eastern Hotel with its florid staircases, Firpo’s, an Italian-run tearoom in the sweltering tropics, Motwani and Sons, the watchmakers, where we were probably headed. Though Calcutta at that time only (only?) had 3 million people, the traffic seemed whirling to my child’s eyes. I grip his hand, mine disappears in his palm. I feel his hand clasp my wrist and we propel ourselves into what seemed like six lanes of traffic but was probably only four made frightening by the lack of lane markers. I fervently trusted Baba to get me across unscathed.
~ Have learned to look left and then right and left again . . . CROSS."
"~ Went to the movies instead of the final high-school year prize-giving ceremony where my parents were present, and I was getting three prizes in a row." Truly awesome for running away, and as expected for getting the prizes.
❤️❤️
Thank you for sharing such a personal glimpse into your life. Beautifully written even in the times of sadness and pain.
Splendid, most especially this: "Have come full circle: I remember being maybe five or six. Holding my father’s left hand. We are going to cross the widest street in Calcutta at that time ---Chowringhee, in what the Brits called “white town” where stood the Great Eastern Hotel with its florid staircases, Firpo’s, an Italian-run tearoom in the sweltering tropics, Motwani and Sons, the watchmakers, where we were probably headed. Though Calcutta at that time only (only?) had 3 million people, the traffic seemed whirling to my child’s eyes. I grip his hand, mine disappears in his palm. I feel his hand clasp my wrist and we propel ourselves into what seemed like six lanes of traffic but was probably only four made frightening by the lack of lane markers. I fervently trusted Baba to get me across unscathed.
~ Have learned to look left and then right and left again . . . CROSS."
"~ Went to the movies instead of the final high-school year prize-giving ceremony where my parents were present, and I was getting three prizes in a row." Truly awesome for running away, and as expected for getting the prizes.