Siblings banter

After a long time baba, kaka and aatya are together at our house the second time. Few years back they had all gathered together at Umbergaon. Its fun watching the brothers tease their sister. All are in their 70's. Kaka arrives all the way from Vadodara to be with his kin. He is the one to wake up early today. Everyone else joins him soon for a cup of tea. And the never ending chat starts once again. Grandchildren, daughters-in-law, sons, daughter, her in- laws....the talk focuses mainly on relations. I have had few days of interaction with all of them in these 14 years. Kaka, a retired Veterinary Joint Director, early in the morning put his cell-walkman on speaker which doles out 'Breathless' by Shankar Mahadevan followed by Marathi songs. I thought he is making good use of the cell phone (has also set the voice tone which anounces the time every hour) unlike my folks especially my mom who is yet to learn messaging. Aatya ( a retired teacher) is her own sweet self. Though I can understand Marathi well, it is difficult to follow certain words/dialouges that highlight different meanings in different context. But I can make out that baba and kaka try to make her view the usual familial issues in a manner different from what she percieves, she belonging to the sensitive lot. I like sensitive human beings (can relate to them better). And so till date I have had a good time getting married to a Maharashtrian household inspite of being a person raised in a South Indian (Tamil/Kannada) home, in the central part of India (Bhilai). Baba, a Mechanical Engineer is his own jolly self and once he quoted his philosophy of life by reciting James Leigh Hunt's Abou Ben Adhem

Abou Ben Adhem

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men."

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

-- James Leigh Hunt

I'll continue later I guess as I need to attend to
some chores.