Treasure boxes of hope

Nostalgia

We re- located to Bangalore for the sake of better education for kids and ailing parents . How wise our decision is,  only  God and time will  tell!

But all the stuff packed in carton boxes remained unopened all these years due to lack of storage space. The boxes remained  stacked in different corners, waiting for me to open them and air their contents.

As wardrobes and storage units got installed in their own sweet time, it was time to finally open the boxes!

Happy memories of bringing up kids flooded into the room as I touched toys, games and assorted collections. Then the doubts assailed me.

Did I spend enough time choosing the best for them? Did I give them a good childhood? Did they enjoy and cherish these toys and games? Doubts haunted me, as I piled the treasures neatly in the new cupboard.

I left the questions to providence and got ready to unpack another box. Just then the phone rang.  By the time I could get out of the maze of boxes, my daughter had picked the phone. It was my son from distant California! I heard their excited happy bantering. I stopped to listen. Both the kids talking animatedly about their toys which they had played with 20 years back! The colours, the brands, the names of toys and the associated incidents, they remembered and discussed everything at length. Somehow  my questions were answered and my apprehensions cleared.

Then it was the turn of the kitchen box, The process was frustrating as there was an excess of things that we had collected over the years.  Each dabba brought back memories. One was for sev, the other one was for sakkarpala — the two things that my family simply loved. It has been a long time since I prepared all this.  And, this box was given by a friend with chikkies while that one came free with ice cream in Diwali! I have nothing to fill them with now except memories. Yet, I have spent a fortune on a storage unit to keep them.

After arranging most of them, two dabbas were left. I could not remember what I used to store in them. When I  opened the lid, to my surprise, I found some sugar in it — still fresh! I couldn’t believe it.  Yes, this was my sugar dabba! I used to buy so much sugar to prepare  assorted sweets and sharbets!

Such sweet memories! The last dabba was for masalas.I had left small packets of haldi, hing and other spices in it!  The dabba cover was now wet with unwitting tears rolling own my face. I just realised that the last two dabbas  literally summarised life! It is the ‘spice’ and the ‘sweetness’ of  your existence  that you carry with you as precious memories for the rest of your life!

Life, how beautifully complicated and simple you are!!