When Amma got married she quit her job with the then Andhra Pradesh government and moved from Hyderabad, where she had been working, to Calcutta. There is one thing that she always told us and that is before she came to Calcutta she never cooked. She began working at the age of seventeen. My grandfather died very young leaving behind a family of six children and his wife. Amma was the eldest, she was seventeen…
అమ్మకు వివాహం అయ్యాక, ప్రభుత్వ ఉద్యోగం మానేసి హైదరాబాద్‌ నుంచి కలకత్తాకు మారింది. వంట విషయానికి వస్తే కలకత్తాకు రాకముందు తనకెప్పుడూ వంట చేసే అలవాటు లేదని, తనకు పదిహేడేళ్లు వచ్చేవరకూ కూడా చేయలేదనీ చెప్తుండేది. మా తాతయ్య కాస్త ముందుగానే కాలం చేశారు. ఆయనకు భార్య, ఆరుగురు పిల్లలు ఉన్నారు. వారిలో అమ్మ పెద్దది. అప్పటికి తనకి పదిహేడేళ్లు, ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌లో కాకినాడ తను పుట్టి పెరిగిన ఊరు. తనకి అక్కడే ట్రెజరీ కార్యాలయంలో ఉద్యోగం కూడా వచ్చింది…
I was not a refugee, but became one through the memories of my parents. The memories were in everything – their loss, pain, grief, language, words, clothes, and food. My father would often ask for a meal of two chappatis with a hand-crushed onion liberally doused with salt and paprika powder. The meal that he lived on for many months during that time. Yet, I too moved. Unlike my parents, who were forced to leave…
ਮੈਂ ਰਿਫਿਊਜੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਸਾਂ, ਪਰ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਾਪਿਆਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਯਾਦਾਂ ਰਾਹੀਂ ਹੋ ਨਿੱਬੜੀ ਸਾਂ। ਹਰ ਚੀਜ਼ ਵਿਚ ਯਾਦਾਂ ਸਨ- ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਘਾਟੇ, ਪੀੜ, ਗਮ, ਭਾਸ਼ਾ, ਸ਼ਬਦਾਂ, ਕੱਪੜਿਆਂ ਅਤੇ ਖਾਣੇ ਵਿਚ ਵੀ। ਮੇਰੇ ਪਿਤਾ ਜੀ ਖਾਣੇ ‘ਚ ਅਕਸਰ ਦੋ ਫੁਲਕੇ, ਹੱਥ ਨਾਲ ਭੰਨਿਆ ਗੰਢਾ ਜਿਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਲੂਣ ਤੇ ਲਾਲ ਮਿਰਚਾਂ ਖੁੱਲ੍ਹੇ ਦਿਲ ਨਾਲ ਮਿਲਾਈਆਂ ਹੁੰਦੀਆਂ, ਮੰਗਦੇ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਸਨ। ਉਸ ਦੌਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਈ ਮਹੀਨਿਆਂ ਤੀਕ ਉਹ ਇਸੇ ਖਾਣੇ ਨਾਲ ਗੁਜ਼ਰ ਕਰਦੇ ਰਹੇ…
