Photo memory

This photo was taken twenty years back, a couple of days after my undergrad final exam..  When I look at this photo

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   I remember our Distemper Green Formica sofa which was made by my family carpenter when I was in fourth grade. My parents still have this sofa in our living room.


• I remember the Blind school near my home. The wire weaving in the sofa would go bad every couple of years and the students in the blind school would weave a new one. They were trained specifically for this trade.


• I also remember my favorite lotus pink with light blue marbled effect design Formica dining table. Formica was the latest trend in those days. I love having my lunch in our dining table during my visits back home. This dining table is older than me.


• I remember my father’s love for wood and every thing old. My father used to buy wood so often and part of my house was always loaded with wood planks mainly teak wood. Every wooden furniture and household items like chapatti roller and base, wooden spoons and ladle were hand made out of teakwood. Every window in my house is made of teak. My father is a teakholic.


• I remember “Mani “ Asari (carpenter) and we fondly called him “Mani mama(uncle). The first childless couple I knew as a child. I saw how society made them feel. Later on they adopted a girl from their extended family. He made all the furniture in our house. Every piece is well-made and strong.  None of the furniture went to repair shop not even once in the last 44 years since he made the first set of chairs for my parent’s first home.


• I remember how sad I was to say goodbye to my best friend "S" , She  stayed with us for few days after our final exams , before leaving for her house in Ranchi. After 18 years I was able to find her.


• I remember my mixed feeling about leaving the official quarters allotted to my dad within a month of taking this photo. We had neighbors from all backgrounds, religion and caste who were very friendly with each other. My life in that neighborhood made me feel humble and thankful for all the good things in my life. And I/we made life long friends there.


• I was nineteen years old ( I turned twenty , two months after I finished my final UG exam).


• I remember having a great figure and tiny hip. Sigh! Look at the picture ,I’m almost invisible.

I will be happy to inherit the furniture from my parents someday.  And I never realized that this day will come, where I will be reminiscing about the mundane stuff from my past but never realized the worth of it while using it .