My Ba (grandmother) is my biggest fan. Our connection is as strong as sugar and candy; I am a hybrid incarnation of her. I am her and she is me. You would think that our spiritual connection would manifest in us living in proximity. I live in Florida and my Ba lives in Baroda (India). She lives alone, alone in a grand two story house that I bet my Dada (grandfather) dreamt would be filled the laughter of his grandchildren. I never lived in that house.
The unfortunate consequence of being a modern nomad is that you must sacrifice family ties and since family is the core of most cultures; you must sacrifice culture. Is that too high a price to pay? I think it is.
The cornerstone of human success as a thriving specie is the family structure. Generations living together meant distribution of work, increased productivity in finding food and most important of all companionship. My grandmother never finished elementary school; she got married and spent her life raising her family. And her reward for her life long labor, she gets to live alone. Dreams should never go unfinished, because Dreams have ghosts too. Raising a family is like no other job, your hard work does not get rewarded with a salary increase, but I think you should be able to at the least enjoy their company.
In my pursuit of my Dreams I have made myself a nomad, Diwali could have been filled with the smells of my Ba’s cooking, this year I spent it talking to my mother on the phone. In pursuit of my dreams I have killed my Ba’s Dreams, I am a Dream killer and their ghosts haunt me.
- Paayal Patel
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