Bonds not broken

My maternal grandmother's family was huge. Nine sisters and two brothers who called themselves the tree and the next gen the branches. A noisy lot they were, their laughter reverberating in many a wedding. Gulping cups of hot coffee gossiping away to glory they had held the roots firmly by making everyone attend every function. Sadly, as the third gen emerged the branches spread out and the cord had snapped. Cousins met rarely at some weddings or someone's passing away which again were formal visits. The siblings had woven a lovely tapestry of affection and warmth and had taken lot of pain to bind the branches which had snapped on its own. Lovely memories would flash now and then and we had assumed that the bonds were broken which had led yours truly to write a middle article titled 'Broken Bond' a decade and half years ago.

But that was not to be. Whatsapp united us! Ah! What a reunion it was. The whole lot of branches became a group and Lo and Behold! the old world opened up. More and more cousins were pulled in and Good Mornings and Good Nights were doing the rounds. The house of the eldest of the siblings was a meeting place for the older lot and the second and third gen converged there followed by a sumptuous lunch. The affectionate smile which was the trademark of the family was still there as one could see. A cousin on a wheelchair broke down with tears of joy of seeing all her kin after a long long time. I bet all of us present there had silently thanked Whatsapp.

This could be called the flip side of Whatsapp what with people ranting and raving about time being wasted. All of us disbursed with a promise to ourselves that we would not ever break the bond. The middle article had
done its duty in its own way. A magnanimous cousin's invitation to Mysuru had us all hopping on to a
train with the whole compartment to ourselves. The cacophony of laughter, all of us talking at the same time was a joy to the ears. The train too was enjoying the banter swaying in glee. Three hours seemed to pass by in a jiffy.

The rest of the day passed before you could say Jack Robinson. The flashback, the memories shared, the loud laughter, the tasty food, pictures clicked made the whole experience memorable and made it feel like sitting in a theater watching a well made movie. None of us had wanted this day to end. But then we realised that this was just a lovely beginning and we were planning to pull in our next gen into this family web.

I am sure that the whole lot up there would be clapping their hands in glee watching us bonding together and laughing uproariously. After all the Bonds were not broken!