I can almost swear that his eyes were welling up. It is definitely not the spicy crab dishes that we were savouring for his eyes to glisten. It is understandable. More than 30 years ago, he vividly remembers how he feted his nephew who grew up in a sort of a ghetto, to clear himself of the mud of poverty and secured a place in the local university. That him, that was an achievement. It felt especially good as he himself had been a sort of a poster child to his side of his family.
He grew up in a patriarchal environment where priority was for merriment. Satiety to gastronomic needs and entertainment to fulfil the basic primordial desires took precedence over self-improvement and general zest to come in life. His father, in his single generation, could the first writer of a riches-to-rags story (not the other way around). From a reputable strata in society with wealth to flaunt and parties to throw, they fell fast into the bottomless pit of poverty.
His mother was a lotus. Despite being in the company of mud, pests, creepy crawlies and stench, she was a sight for sore eyes. She was the pillar, the nidus that kept the family together. She tried to inculcate good values and ignite the fire of hunger in her children to succeed. It must have sunk in most of her offsprings. At least, he inherited the drive to go where no man, in his immediate vicinity, dared to do go.
All things must pass, so did his mother, prematurely, long before she could savour the fruit of her labour. When she left the building, her sapling had hardly built woody stems to support himself. Her clock stopped ticking before her time was up.
Fast forward...
Now, that distant past passed us by like a zephyr. That sapling had grown, shed his leaves and had developed rings around its girth. Many had taken protection from its shade and had used it steadfast hold to build themselves a good head start.
History repeats itself they say. Is the glistening a reminder to the teak that life has come a full circle? At least he can hold his branches majestically high with the pleasure of knowing that he had left a largesse that may be a template for his down-line to emulate and hopefully the melancholy of hopelessness that he and his siblings had to endure would indeed be locked away in the deepest dungeon till end of time...
He grew up in a patriarchal environment where priority was for merriment. Satiety to gastronomic needs and entertainment to fulfil the basic primordial desires took precedence over self-improvement and general zest to come in life. His father, in his single generation, could the first writer of a riches-to-rags story (not the other way around). From a reputable strata in society with wealth to flaunt and parties to throw, they fell fast into the bottomless pit of poverty.
His mother was a lotus. Despite being in the company of mud, pests, creepy crawlies and stench, she was a sight for sore eyes. She was the pillar, the nidus that kept the family together. She tried to inculcate good values and ignite the fire of hunger in her children to succeed. It must have sunk in most of her offsprings. At least, he inherited the drive to go where no man, in his immediate vicinity, dared to do go.
All things must pass, so did his mother, prematurely, long before she could savour the fruit of her labour. When she left the building, her sapling had hardly built woody stems to support himself. Her clock stopped ticking before her time was up.
Fast forward...
Now, that distant past passed us by like a zephyr. That sapling had grown, shed his leaves and had developed rings around its girth. Many had taken protection from its shade and had used it steadfast hold to build themselves a good head start.
History repeats itself they say. Is the glistening a reminder to the teak that life has come a full circle? At least he can hold his branches majestically high with the pleasure of knowing that he had left a largesse that may be a template for his down-line to emulate and hopefully the melancholy of hopelessness that he and his siblings had to endure would indeed be locked away in the deepest dungeon till end of time...
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