A 700-page novel (Roots), first published in 1975 (the year I was born!), made me think : Who am I?

It began in 1750, in an African village in Gambia…
A boy by the name of Kunta Kinte was born to a Mandinka tribesman in Juffure…

Like the book’s protagonist, Kunta Kinte, I too come from a long line of descendants that lived in a time rich in culture and heritage.  Unlike Kinte, I did not have the good fortune of growing up with “family elders” in a community village where every knew every one, and also knew what their ancestors had taught them, one generation to the next.

All I have are snatches of history… narrated by wrinkled uncles at family gatherings… fast diminishing into oblivion as fragile memories begin to fade…

So what do I know for sure?  What makes me, me?

Someday, what I know will also be forgotten.  And, my little daughter (Pumpkin) may find herself asking similar questions about her past…  This is my attempt to document what I know, so that she does not have to wonder about it.

I’ve never considered myself patriotic, but being an “Indian” is definitely a big part of my identity.  My parents were born in pre-partitioned India (now occupied by Pakistan), so “The Partition” is also a part of my past.  I was born, and have lived all my life, in Bombay (now called Mumbai), so being a Bombayite is also me.

I know a lot more about my mother’s side of the family than my father’s, as my father passed away when I was just 15, and did not have many relatives.

What I do know about my father – Viru Bachwani – was that he was a “good” man (every one who knew him said that about him), and was last employed as a Pharmacist with the Bombay Muncipal Corporation.  He had changed many jobs in his life (like father, like son?!) and had served, at some time or the other, as a medical assistant in a jail, a cinema projector operator in Lucknow and even ran a small side-business related to chrome-plating of cooking ranges.  As a young boy, I recall asking my father about his parents and was fascinated to learn that my paternal grandfather was considered to be some kind of a James Bond in his village – He used to be called upon to investigate crimes!

My mother – Devi – was born into the Merani family, and had grown up with 2 brothers and 5 other sisters, under the able care of her mother – Kalawanti.  (They also had 2 more siblings who apparently died soon after their birth, but no one seems to be wanting to talk about that.)  Kalawanti was married to Roopchand, an honest sincere man who dedicated all his life working for the Indian Railways.  He was also a budding writer in his free time, and has published many books in Sindhi (my mother tongue!).  I can’t read/write in Sindhi and will not be able to experience his writings, but I think I get my writer’s bug from him.

Roopchand was also a very disciplined man, and had a precise time and routine for every thing.  I have spent a few summer vacations during my childhood, in my maternal grandparents’ home in Delhi – while they were still alive.  I remember very little about that time, but do recall that no one could get in the way of nanaji’s routine.  And, also remember that nani was completely blind in the last few years of her life.  In spite of a wife and six daughters, I hear that nanaji was the most accomplished cook in the house!  – another trait (my love for cooking) that I think I inherited from him.

Coming back to my mother : Sources tell me that she was considered to be the most “modern” of all her siblings – dressing more contemporary than any of her sisters, experimenting with short hair styles, going for first-day-first-shows in the cinema hall, etc.  Though today, at 68, she shows no sign of modernity.  She was also the most artistic of all her siblings, always creating works of art on fabric through embroidery and painting.  (I think I get my artistic gene from her.)  She spent most of her married life in the service of the Indian Railways (she worked there for more than 35 years!) and of her family.  She is now retired, and spends most of her waking hours doting on her grand daughter – Pumpkin.

And, this is just my immediate family… There are still countless uncles and aunts and cousins that need to be traced back to their roots!

Here’s to a better understanding of our roots…