Nothing is indisposable!

Disposing is the present day culture and whn we refer to fenshui they say negative energy stays around things which are not used or moved and dust or dirt shdnt be around things or articles which are better disposed off BUT the memories which the age old wall clock which dosent work and its pendulum is at stand still or the tiny watch which was gifted for passing in matriculation have their own value which can be felt by only those who have a tuning towards attachments by virtue of god we indians still have little attachments and dont dispose off so fast

 

Sir,
Disposable----is unheard of in our country, till recently. Can I say it as a 'western culture' we are following nowadays, as like other things?

If our ancestors thought of 'disposable' things then we wouldn't have got the richest scriptures and other philosophical. religious, etc things which we and the world admire, even today.

i too have the letters of my grandpa, my uncle, who are no more. Looking at those letters i really cherish those moments, i spent with them.

sriniketan

 

Dear Sri,
I cannot help becoming nostalgic on reading
how a 75 kilogram bag of rice would cost only Rs 6
Vish was earning Rs 350 pm when I got married & there was no dearth for money ever with that "princely sum"!

I belong to your school of thought that we love to preserve with pleasure some things which can be classified as belonging to the junk side of the family heritage.My grandfather's letter to me about how important it is to compromise and have smooth sailing with in-laws in the initial years of our married life, still means a lot to
me.The first set of "samaithu par" books, autographed and presented to me by Mennakshi Ammal, the author, means a lot to me.
Vish has a bundle of scriptural collection of books "religiously" (pun intended) preserved for the past 50+years and preciously "guarded" by him - I am not allowed to even touch them.
However much we appreciate M F Hussain and the kind, the pictures by Ravi Varma are special for us.
We still love houses with vasal thinnai, eduthu kattu, "kamara uLLu", mitram etc - this generation will wonder what those words mean!
But, can't help saying that, at times, I feel, you and I belong to a "sandwich generation" ! Our love for tradition is strongly rooted, much as we adjust to modern living. If at all, we have to part with some antiques, it is only due to space constraint. We are also aware, what we preserve so lovingly is going to be thrown off as garbage by our own children.
Old is gold for you and me, but our children prefer to go in for platinum!
I loved your sentence
If they are potted plants, we are like the Banyan Tree of Adyar!
Very true !
Love,
Chithra.

 

Dear Cheeniya,

It is not easy to write a FB to your posts. Well, one could read and key in an oh,la,la reply, but then that would not do you any justice. So, here is conceding round one to you!

Is it because the year is ebbing or is it because it is time to ring in the old and ring in the new or is it because the kitchen-sink attitude is raging in economic circle? Atoning my Sins and Nothing is Indisposable- both seem to have a sense of mental and moral evaluation going as the main theme. Is good too, we all need introspection and an approaching new year is the best season.

My paternal grandmother never allowed us to forget that her father was Sir Diwan of Travancore and donated their 'palace' to the Corporation of Trivandrum. We heard it so often, in mellow memory, in loud boastfulness- that we became immune to it. Though when I went to pay the Corporation tax this vacation, I could not help reminscing that a noble ancestor must have walked those corridors at one time.

My father inherited all the family junk/heritage. Massive 9 step kolu padis, Banrutti dolls, easy chairs, meat shelf-, roll-top, Baby Brownie Cameras- the names are all so interesting. A family vastu expert told me that certain mile-stones were blocked in my life since these heirlooms were lying unused, unseen for decades. This vacation, I ransacked our attics. It was such a treasure trove of things and memories. We have preserved our junk lovingly like prize maavadu. From the tram ticket that my thatha used in London in 1935, to the kaapi kottai colour pattu pudavai worn by my gran, to the Rupees 16 nayapaise 45 bill for an iron gate purchased by my periappa- we would be an accountants or a bargain hunters delight. I had no qualms throwing away almost all the junk which included my tricycle and a test paper in Moral Science in which I stood first in 1978. But what saddened me, was while I was throwing away all this, there seemed to be people who wanted and valued it. That made me sad and guilty.

In these times of globalisation, many things have lost relevance. Heritage and memories seem to be the worst casualities . But as you say, in throwing away all this, did I deprive the future generation of heritage,values, memories? To an extent, yes. But to a large extent,no. When I gave away my father's cricket bat, I thought for a week. But I finally decided to part with it. Atleast, I knew my father, I knew how he loved his bat. My child who would never know his grandfather would not have any attachment or fondeness attached to that bat. And would probably throw it away in the garbage. Atleast, I found a young lad willing to swing that archaic bat for a few days. We submit our idols to the elements of the universe after a season, so there is no harm in doing the same to memories and memorablia. It is all in the heart, after all. And in some albums---

Look! You got a cynical grouch like me all mushy---


regards
Vidya

 

hi sri,

I remember hearing from my grandmom, that their marriage cost them just Rs.10...gold was 2rs for sovereign, i think. And even when i was a kid, our provisions used to come at Rs.30/40.

And i and veda still love the thinnai, the vaasal, the mitram, all allocated to their places...without any consultation with a vaastu consultant...
and would love to have a place like that.....

Sri, nothing is indisposable..agreed. we would like to keep everything..but with the space available shrinking, it is a luxury to lot of us to accomodate lot of things.. we are keeping an old murphy radio, of my fil.

I have a copy of soundarylahari, i think it was the first edition come to me, from mil, and to her from her father. I use the same vengala sombu, that my mil did her varalakshmi nombu 45 years back..and would love to give it to my dil (ofcourse if she would want to take it..)..though i can afford to buy a silver one...i keep that as it has the blessings, the poojas everything.
I have picked a mukkappu...of my FIL which was lying in a box..and used it for my son...and i still am cherishing it.....


Old is gold, and old gold is more valuable than the present gold..ho..as V24 says, it is a very nostalgic drive down memory lane..

One thing i do for my kids and generation to come..take pictures of these things..and keep them tagged..and in CD's for reference.

 

Dear Sri,

Nothing is indisposable.... Great topic and very nicely written... I always believe in keeping and saving things... But slowly it is becoming a difficult task to maintain... Fortunately, my father has not inherited a huge quantum of goods/articles... But we have a huge collection of photos of our family members.... Some of them I have not even met in my life.... We relish and enjoy going through that....

With todays space constraint and cost.... It is becoming difficult to store and keep things... We have no other choice than to dispose off .... Though we would love to keep some of the things which are priceless...