Thursday, February 24, 2011

So Different and So much Alike

"We forgot to live," I said. My daughter looked up from her computer. "I mean this winter and cold weather does not allow us to do anything you know, outdoors." I finished my sentence.
"Hybernate," she said and went on with her keyboard. I went to bed, reminiscing about  when we were in India and we would put cots under the sky in our backyard, in air filled with jasmine blossoms and look at the stars until my father called us back in saying that the fruit bats will be coming soon. We would then come inside and close the doors and keep the screened windows open so we could still look at the sky and smell the jasmine. So I went to sleep missing my childhood. This morning I brought the subject up and then my daughter said, "To me not living means not helping anyone. If we are not helping anyone we are just existing." Wow, I had no idea. Here I am missing India's outdoors (or American outdoors in spring time) and here she is talking about something so deep. Later today I was thinking how my father used to say that our existence is a waste if we do not lend a helping hand to the needy. So that is where she gets it from. Aside from this strong feeling of helping people, if I think about my father and compare him to my daughter, they seem so different. He used to like rich Indian food, she is into skim milk and fruits, he used to like only Indian music, her favourites include The Beatles. He believed that women should stay home and man should make the money,she is very independent. Yet she does not believe in wasting resources and he was careful about using every bit of paper before he would take an other sheet. So I am wondering if my father lived to see her, would she be able to change his mind and convince him about her likes and dislikes? The deeper concerns about this world are the same.
It has been a month since the world lost Jack Lalane. He was somebody I looked up to. Not because he was rich or because of his looks but because he reminded me of my grandmother. They both believed in being independent so they took care of themselves. She believed in eating two morsels less than everyone else and used to say that if we move about and did our own service we would not have to worry about  being disabled. She came from a different world than Jack Lalane but had thinking so much alike.

2 comments:

Belle said...

Your daughter sounds very mature. It is wonderful she wants to help others.

Unknown said...

That was a very good thought provoking read.