प्रेम पत्रिका - prem patrika

प्रेम पत्रिका - PREM PATRIKA

Sumitra was leafing through one of the old albums. It was a trip down memory lane, the sepia-coloured photos bringing alive the days of her childhood and adolescence. She stopped to look intently at a snap that reminded her of Anu, her great-grand-daughter. She remembered the day her uncle walked in with a box camera and made her stand in the garden while he clicked a few times!

She looked up to check the date on the calendar once again, four more days to go before Mithu arrived from Amsterdam with her husband Ramesh and children, Sumant and Ananya. Ramesh had a new project in Bangalore and decided to relocate with his family for a few months, much to Sumi’s delight. Mithu, named after her paternal grandmother, was Sumi's favourite. They had last visited India three years ago when Anu was nearly 3 and Sumant was 6. Anu had taken to Sumi at once and they had become inseparable. Three weeks flew by in a trice and there was a tearful parting, but they chatted regularly on the phone a couple of times a week.

Sumi walked to the door and back, telling herself that they would be home soon. She wanted to know if her DS Sekhar had picked them up. Her dear DIL Anuradha said, ‘Yes, Amma, they should be here in about 15 minutes.

Sumi was waiting at the front porch to receive her grand-son-in-law and his family. Anu hurled herself at Sumi and hugged her tight, caught hold of her SumiPaati’s hand and walked in as Anuradha and Sekhar exchanged amused smiles. Sumi was SumiPaati while Anuradha was just plain Paati.

Life soon settled down to a happy routine, the children were admitted to the International School, Mithu took up a part-time job and resumed her Bharathanatyam and carnatic vocal classes while Ramesh got busy with his project. Sumi and Anu spent the weekends looking at old photos or playing Pallanguzhi and scrabble, till Anu decided that she had to make her SumiPaati computer-savvy despite Sumi’s feeble protests. The doting grandfather that he was, Sekhar looked on indulgently while Anu taught Sumi the intricacies of the cyber-world, right from booting the PC, creating an E-mail id and password, logging on, sending mail,… ‘I’ll never be able to master these complexities, Anu Kanna’, ‘Yes you can, SumiPaati! Thatha, won’t you help SumiPaati if she has a problem?’, …

One day, while Sumi was cleaning her cupboard, Anu wandered in to admire the old ‘pattu’ sarees, draping them around her and feeling the soft texture with exclamations of wonder. Sumi lovingly picked up an old sandal-wood casket wrapped in red velvet from the almirah and carefully laid it on the table. Anu watched silently, waiting patiently while her SumiPaati folded the sarees and neatly stacked them inside. With the perceptiveness of the very young, Anu sensed that this ‘treasure-chest’ was something special and the dreamy faraway look on SumiPaati’s face seemed to hold her spellbound.

As though summoned by an unseen hand, Mithu and Anuradha walked in just then and sat down beside Anu. The anticipation was palpable! Sumi smiled at the three expectant faces and said, ‘I have been wanting to share some wonderful memories that I have held close to my heart for a long time’…

‘What could it be? I’m sure she’s going to talk about her life, her childhood, marriage to Thatha,…’ thought Mithu.
‘Amma is going to show us something that she treasures, Yes, the special gift that Appa gave her for their Golden Anniversary,’ Anuradha was sure…
‘Oh, when will SumiPaati open the 'treasure-chest'?

Finally, as if she had teased them long enough, Sumi removed the red velvet that covered the sandalwood casket and put it aside. Slowly, she unlocked the hidden clasp on the side and opened the lid. The box was lined with blue satin and there were a few ornate jewel boxes inside. Sumi opened them one by one to reveal some exquisite earrings, bracelets and the most amazing string of diamonds, a surprise present for their 50 years of togetherness. She fondly recalled the occasions when her caring husband had gifted her each piece, on their first wedding anniversary, Sekhar’s 'Thottil’ (cradling), …

‘Thatha was a remarkable person, you are so fortunate, Paati’,
‘Appa had such good taste, Amma’,
‘Big Thatha must have loved you soooo much, no SumiPaati?’
‘Amma, you’re blushing,’ Anuradha hugged her dear MIL while Mithu felt that ‘in those days, romantic men like Vishwa Thatha were rare’!

Anu peeped into the box, there was something else there. An album tied with gold ribbon and tassels hanging on the side. Some photographs that evidently held a lot of cherished moments, to see SumiPaati untie the ribbon with such loving care. While the ladies were ensconced in Sumi's room, Sekhar was engrossed in the daily crossword in the Hindu, then he went on to complete the sudoku, with one ear tuned to the excited giggles and exclamations… ‘looks like the “girls” are having a lot of fun, what could they be up to?’

Curiosity finally got the better of him and four laughing faces turned towards him as he joined them. He pulled up a chair and leaned over to see as his mother pointed out her parents and other members of her family. There was one photo of Sumi and her adored husband taken after the wedding ceremony, such a charming couple, waiting on the threshold of a new and exciting journey, nervousness writ large on Sumi’s face while Vishwanathan looked with pride and wonder at his young bride. More well-preserved photos of Sumi and Vishwa with Sekhar during the Namakaranam, Upanayanam…

‘Mom, don’t you think I look like SumiPaati?’,
‘Of course you do, Anu Kanna’ from Sekhar,
‘Thank God Sumant isn’t here, he’ll tease me no end’,
‘I can see what you’ll be like ten years from now, all the boys will flock around you!’
‘Thatha, don’t pull my leg, I don’t like boys at all,’
‘Oh? We’ll see...'
The pièce-de-résistance was the photograph taken on their 10th Wedding Anniversary. Sumi was resplendent in an off-white Kanjeevaram saree with a rich pink-gold zari border and tiny all-over gold motifs, wearing the string of diamonds around her neck, Vishwa looking very dignified in a silk dhoti and khadi-silk kurta. Anuradha surreptitiously wiped her eyes while Mithu showed her emotions openly, even Anu was speechless, looking round-eyed at the lovely couple, her SumiPaati and Big Thatha!

‘Amma, what else have you got in your Khazana?’, Sekhar wanted to know.
‘Oru nimisham poruthukko paa, kaattaren’ (Patience, dear one)

Out came a pink bundle, flat and long… Yes, got it right in one…not so difficult to unravel the mystery!
Letters that Thatha wrote to Paati after the ‘bride-viewing’ when “he came, he saw and was conquered” (with due pologies to Julius Caesar’s Veni, vidi,vici), and during the long-distance courtship period!

Now, now, before we let our imagination run away with us, …..
None of the stereotypical oh-so-romantic ‘I Love You so much, it hurts' letters

‘Thatha’s letters were full of wisdom and good advice, describing his family, their simple way of life and their underlying love that was rarely demonstrative, the bonds between siblings, respect for elders, traditions that had to be followed, compromises if one did not believe in religious customs, and above all, always being there for each other, no matter what…’

Mithu could not contain herself any longer. ‘Paati, I thought these were Love Letters! From what you say Thatha never actually expressed his love for you openly by saying the three magic words, did he? Oh, I always thought he was such a romantic at heart’, she looked quite disappointed.

‘Oh, Mithu Kanna, don’t look so crestfallen, come and read Thatha’s letters, see for yourself’
‘Whaaat? I can’t do that, Paati, they are so personal and private’
‘Maybe in those days, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to read them. Perspectives change with age, I have shared so much about Thatha with you all today that I’ll feel very happy if you read his letters’

‘Who said Thatha was down-to-earth and prosaic? Wow! He has addressed Paati by a different term of endearment in every letter… (Omane, Kannmani, Dear readers, let your imagination run riot….)
I take back my words, Paati. I never knew there were so many ways of showing one’s love and affection, the hackneyed and clichéd phrases seem quite corny in comparison’.

Anu’s mind was working on a different track altogether, she was too young to delve into the intricacies of the human psyche anyway!

‘SumiPaati, you mean you exchanged hand-written letters? Who delivered them, how did you get a reply…’
Endless questions, this was a strange and unknown concept to Anu in these days of E-mail and Chat and Skype. Sekhar patiently explained how the postal system worked in India (sometimes a local post takes 3 days to be delivered!) and showed her the letters and magazines delivered by the local postman. That courier services have become the order of the day is an entirely different story.

Anu has now decided to write a letter to her dearest friend, letter-paper and envelope have been procured by Sekhar, and silence reigns in the house for a while. And she has made a pact with SumiPaati, they will write to each other every week when she goes back to Amsterdam.

I too am of the firm opinion that writing a nice newsy letter is far more fulfilling than exchanging pleasantries and inanities over the phone. Happy to say that we are still maintaining this tradition at home.


Padma Srinivas





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Dear Mythraeyi,

Hi! Nice fb from you, thank you so much....

I find that once can write lots of interesting news in a letter, but when we talk on the phone or write email, brevity seems the norm, later on one thinks 'i forgot to ask this... i should have informed ...'

Thanks for stepping in here, Mythraeyi dear,

LnBBHs,
Padma

 

Dear Padmini,

Oh yes, I can definitely vouch for the personal touch in your fb...

I remember the days of the Inland letter where we would cover up all three sides and then write along the margin and sides and wherever possible! The luxury of buying letter-paper and matching envelopes for special occasions had its own charm, na?

Even now, I love the handmade paper from Auroville...

Thank you for taking the time to write a nice fb, Padmini dear!

I apologise for the late response, was caught up in a lot of work...

LnBBHs,
Padma

 

Dear Mindi,

Hey, what a fulfilling fb, just loved it, Mindi dear.

Yes, the bonds between generations once-removed are inexplicable, maybe the genes and genomes carry some messages that are indecipherable to all others except the ones who are destined to get close to one another....I shared a deep bond with my maternal grand-dad, he shared so many events from his childhood and early years that no one had ever heard before!

There were these wonderful letters written by my great-grandfather to my father and my Athai, which inspired me to try writing this story. He had such a great sense of humour and such mastery of English, when Athai showed me the letters and asked me to read them, (i was about 16 then), i was totally moved to tears...

My DH is not a romantic in the usual sense of the term, though he is a very sentimental and deeply affectionate person.

Letter-writing is a lost art and is in dire need of revival. I'd be glad to exchange letters with you but you need to give me your address in a PM. I shall also do so...

Thanks for taking the time to write fb... I really appreciate and look forward to your inputs, Mindi dear!

LnBBHs,
Padma

 

Dear Padmini,

Aamaamaam, romba piduchudu, thank you,

LnBBHs,
Padma