Sometimes littlest of things hold your deepest sentiments. It’s amazing how your emo self is deeply attached to something that usually go unnoticed in everyday life and how with time when it’s passed on through generations, it becomes your legacy. Something you hold onto strongly, something you care deeply about, something you’re just not ready to part with.
This work of art right here was once a handkerchief. The intricate design is hand embroidered by my grandmother. She casually gave it to my mum on her wedding day to wipe her saree off with, which was spilled over by milk. She must not have guessed that it’d be kept and preserved for this long, infact she still doesn’t know that we have it. My mum being a staunch curator of everything small in the name of memories of people associated with that particular article, has kept it for 27 long years. I guess I got it from her, my love and passion for material memory. She still has paintings and letters written by my maternal grandmother who left for her heavenly abode some thirty two years ago. The pages have turned yellow and so delicate you’d fear touching them for they turn to pieces even with the most gentle touch of your skin on their surface. And the best part, she revisits them time and again and also make us visit those old days that have passed long before we even became a zygote.
She says, “How deeply these not so important articles can influence you will not be understood unless you acknowledge the sentiments attached to them and allow yourself to feel love towards them. You have to associate your love for that person to these articles. You have to allow yourself to hold onto these memories, in a good way, in a way that’ll keep your rooted and grounded.”
The other day she was going through her stack -which I casually and usually brush away by saying “you collect waste”- she found this hankerchief. She was so elated to share the story associated with it. Saying what a flawless design it was and how perfect that even she could never attempt to try it, which actually was the main reason she had kept it for so long. Seeing her excitement and her love for that particular piece of cloth, I knew instantly what I wanted to do with it. So I got it framed for her fiftieth birthday.
PS- the old guy who framed it asked me the story behind it. And when I told him, he went like “This has become your legacy now since you’ve preserved two generations in one frame.”
Last modified: January 18, 2021
