I was driving my way to take some notes from a college friend with Amy, my creative partner for Chandigarh Everyday, a blog about everyday people. When she happened to pitch me this idea as we were on our way to meet a family I hadn’t met before. She said, “We can do a blog series where Humans of Chandigarh goes to meet families.” The moment she said this…..I just loved the idea and we decided to begin this with the family we were going to meet.
(I always get requests to meet people, many literally invite me to their family events without even knowing anything about me. But I just didn’t know how I should go about it. From this blog series I am trying to bring out everyday lives of everyday families)
As we reached at my classmate’s House. I realized that this is the perfect place to start the Humans of Chandigarh at your home series. But a rare blunder happened, I was carrying my camera like always, but the battery had died.
But Amy, one real motivator backed me up well to take pictures from my mobile. So let’s start it.
This blog is about Prabhjot and her family. Prabhjot Bawa, my college mate is a very innocently sweet person. She is polite. She is mellow when she talks. She panics way too quick. To be honest, many of my classmates don’t gel up with her well as they think that she is too kiddish and doesn’t act her age. I never really knew much about her and only after this meet I realized why is she like the way she is.
From what I was told about Prabhjot’s family, I knew that there are only three people in her family – Her mother, little sister, and herself. But when we were about to enter her house, I noticed two more family members sitting in the garden. Prabhjot introduced me to them, their names were Samosa and Tikki. Yes, you heard it right! Samosa and Tikki……. two cute Guinea pigs. Haha! I am still in all smiles while writing their names.
When Amy and I stepped into Prabhjot’s house, it just felt like home. And then we got the glimpse of Prabhjot’s mother who greeted us lovingly and ironically served us Aaloo Tikki snacks. Those Guinea pigs, Samosa and Tikki, must be like ‘Whaaaattt??
As we sat down and started conversing, I noticed that Prabhjot started to blush. Now, before I start, I should tell you Prabhjot is that kind of a person who always wears a smile on her face. And the blushing is the result of that cute awkward moment *My friend is visiting home for the first time* feeling.
I saw that Prabhjot’s mother was continuously working. I asked Prabhjot about it, she told me “Mummy likes to do the kitchen work more than her office job, handling kitchen makes her feel better. She has just recovered from severe health issues.”
Prabhjot’s mother was diagnosed with chronic migraine, blood pressure and cervical problem leading her to get hospitalized and bed rest. Prabhjot told us that she and her sister faced a lot issues at that time as they are too attached to their mother. “I used to miss college, so that I could take care of my mother and let Payal worry less, as she had to prepare for her exams.”
Not so long and a lot happened over the cup of chai in the drawing room. The family stories kept unfolding one by one. Since we were talking about health issues of Prabhjot’s mother, I got to know that in the past her mother has been a survivor of breast cancer.
In the moment Prabhjot told us about his father. In 2009, she lost him to a rare, incurable Motor Neuron Disease. I didn’t realize what was this disease until I came back and searched it on the internet. It’s actually very rare, in simple words it’s kind of a disease which destroys the cells that control essential voluntary muscle activity such as speaking, walking, breathing, and swallowing. He worked as an advocate.
“I was in 10th class when Papa left us. The same age when my mother lost her father. I was his princess and he was my king. Our lives changed drastically after that. Mom gave us the best she could, but still we never came to terms with losing my dad who loved us so dearly.”
Prabhjot recalled her memories with her father, which actually made me understand Prabhjot in a much better way.
“My father used to treat me like an actual princess. When I was a child, he used to give me grapes after peeling off the upper skin. He was so caring that even if I coughed a little, he would take me away from that place.”
While listening to her memories, I literally went back to my own childhood because you know how parents are at times – Extra caring, overprotective, also superstitious at times.
Then Prabhjot’s mother joined in with her own share of memories of her loving husband. She still wears the locket which he gifted to her.
We were all so hooked, and the family got excited and wanted to show us their old family photographs, which were kept in the cupboard. Since, I was the tallest one in the room… I had to take the honor to climb up the sofa and get all the dust on my face, happily.
And you know, Prabhjot fell down from the sofa just a second after this picture was clicked. She was lying down on the carpet, started laughing. Her mom was like “Ohh tu fir gir gayi, roz ka kaam hai iska ye.”
As we went through the albums, I and Amy personally felt that connection which Prabhjot had with her father.
“He was very romantic, we explored new places while traveling together. Many husbands stop to spend time with their wives after they become parents, but he remained the same. The only thing which changed was that now we traveled with our daughters.” said Prabhjot’s mom.
Since, the topic of love was on! A mention of ‘Shah Rukh Khan’ happened. And just on that mention of his name Aunty got excited. She is a huge fan of Shah Rukh, just like her daughter. She said, “Hum Shah Rukh ko mile hue hain, usne humse haath bhi milaya hai….Uske haath mein sirf teen lines hain..”
And this ‘teen lines hain’ made me laugh so hard. I mean don’t we all have three visible lines in our hands? But yes… dil se Shah Rukh ke fan nikle ye toh…!
We entered Prabhjot’s room, we got to know that she has never drawn away her toy collection as all of them were gifted by her father. She has conserved his books, sunglasses, and even the name-plate of his father.
I don’t know at that moment, I was feeling so low…I was just thinking why life has to be like this? How come this circle of life took away the person who loved his family so much? I mean why Human life has to be so unpredictable?
Okay! We need a light moment in the blog now. Meet Prabhjot’s grandfather. She took out his photo from the shelf to show me and said “Ye mere dada ji hain, ye bohot sara khana khaate thay.”
Hahaha! To all the readers, can you feel the vibe which I got being there? Doesn’t it feel like home? My family, your family, Prabhjot’s family – similar habits, similar gestures, similar moments of happiness.
Then Prabhjot’s mother came in and kind of scolded us for not finishing our coffee and fruit chat that she made for us.
We started to talk to her again, now about herself. She told us that after Prabhjot’s father passed away she started to work. Though she doesn’t seem to find that satisfaction in the job as she feels it’s not made for her. But she raises a good point of why couldn’t she just quit it “My girls are yet to start their careers, there is still a long way to go. If I stop working then how will I be able to provide them with the sufficient needs for the present and the future.”
Finally, the third family member joined in, Payal, the younger sister. So, from the first moment she gave me a very different vibe then Prabhjot and her mother. Payal, having had a more practical approach was really blunt while talking. There was a moment when I felt like, she is the boss of this family.
Prabhjot said, “We fight everyday, and she never fights back. If I fight I get upset and don’t talk for days. But Payal is not like me, she is more understanding.”
Wow! That’s sweet. Such hearty moments, you know! We all have experienced these.
Now the time had come for us to leave Prabhjot’s house. Two hours ago when I reached here, I shook hands with Prabhjot to greet her, and touched Aunty’s feet. Now, while leaving I gave Prabhjot a tight hug and when I was about to tell aunty how much I loved meeting her…she just hugged me. She said, “Bohot acha laga milke, purani yaadein taza ho gayi…jab bhi chakkar lage ghar pe paas toh zarur milne aana.”
Kya yar emotional kar diya! But yes, I will definitely come and meet them again.
And wait, the blog isn’t finished yet. While leaving the house Prabhjot told us the significance of their garden. She said, “My father made this for my mother as she loved flowers and the feeling of living close to greenery.”
Written by Vishal Verma, with full heart. Hope you felt it. And let us know if you want me to visit your family. Inbox me on Humans of Chandigarh FB or mail at @chandigarheveryday@gmail.com
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