Bhedaghat

Our conversations occurred mainly over lunch as we gorged on the food and he seemed to look healthier after his monthly injection.

As we began our meal, I recollected that my grandfather’s Facebook profile read ‘May 16, 1935’ as his birthday although since I can remember, we have always celebrated his birthday on 23rd January. I had come across many people earlier with multiple birthdays and found it quite absurd. So I decided to ask him about his birthday.

“I was actually born on 23rd January, 1934 but since I joined school late and had to catch-up, they registered my birth date as 16th May, 1935 in the school records”, he clarified.

When we began to talk about his youth, he told me that his first job was at Jabalpur. Initially, his father was quite apprehensive of the thought of staying so far away from his son, but my grandfather was determined to work for Indian Railways at Jabalpur.

“Your grandmother loved the train journey from Hyderabad to Jabalpur. There is a place near Jabalpur called Bhedaghat. This place is breathtaking. When we visited this place, we travelled in a boat on Narmada river and there were Sangmarmar (marble) rocks on either side of the river in the valley and the sun was setting just then. It was spectacular.”

I could see that he felt very nostalgic. He went back to slurping saaru and lifted his plate to drink the remainder of it. He sheepishly asked for a bowl to drink more saaru. This sight was very pleasing to my eyes. In that moment, I realised that I would do anything that would keep him happy. He is one of the most important people to me in life and I have learnt a great deal from him over the many years I’ve known him. His wit and strength are commendable.