All she could do was hug and cry
"Sakarmaa, my grandma thought that her family had vanished over time and she was all alone in this world." - Vijay Hariyani.
*"Sakar" means sugar, or sweet; and "maa" is mother, hence the translation to sweet mother.
And then came a completely unexpected ray of hope when Vijay landed at her doorstep one fine day, after 53 years, introducing himself as her grandson. Viola!! It was a speechless moment flooded with overwhelming joy that cannot be explained in words. All she could was hug him tight, cry and embrace the gratitude of having met him.
With Uncle Vijay at Paul Cafe (Dubai), Sep 2023. Our chats were always bubbly and cheerful! |
The sugar factory
Back in 1968 (ref: I was only 3 years old then!!), Uncle Vijay toiled amidst the rhythmic hum of machinery at the sugar factory in Maharashtra. The air was thick with the sweet scent of molasses, clinging to his skin like memories etched into the very fabric of time. Each granule of sugar held a secret—a whisper of sweat, determination, and dreams.
His work at the sugar factory in Maharashtra was enjoyable but hectic. As a young man, he was in the early part of his career with a long journey ahead. Ambition and life goals were alive in his mind.
Ponderings along the corridors of the sweet sugar factory, "Would I build a legacy? Would I taste the nectar of achievement? Or would life, capricious as the monsoon rains, sweep me into unexpected currents?"
The circle called "family"
His sisters and brothers, the network of family close to his heart like a constellation of bonds, were his compass. Their laughter echoed through the narrow alleys of memory ... their teasing, their shared secrets, their unwavering loyalty. They were the safety net woven from threads of shared childhood, catching him when he stumbled, celebrating his victories with raucous joy. Their love was the softest cushion against life’s jagged edges.
Meanwhile, his dad, Parmanand Hariyani (popularly known as Kakhu Bha), was his "senior mentor" who was known to have grown up with his uncle due to the early demise of his father. He was a man of few words but infinite wisdom. His eyes held stories of resilience, of survival. The old man’s gnarled hands would rest on his shoulders, imparting silent blessings. “Forge ahead,” those eyes seemed to say. “Learn from my stumbles, but find your own path.”
Grandpa and Grandma whom he has never met
Uncle Vijay has never seen his grandpa or grandma. The "grandpa pictures" in his mind are based on the stories shared by his dad, some bits of documents that were in the house and some colourful exaggerations of his creative mind. Grandpa, Virji Hariyani, was said to be a wealthy businessman of his times with an established business as a shipping merchant in Maharashtra. Virji must have been the sturdy man with a bushy moustache giving orders to his servants with a dancing tobacco pipe balancing at the side of his lips.
His success story as a businessman was reflected in the respect he earned in the community and the list of assets in the form of land, houses and other properties known to have been in his possession. Virji was one of the traditionalists who trusted God and the people close to him to take care of the truth and did not document his possessions well. He was a man of his word, and he expected the world to be the same.
The twist of fate and the positions of planets had it that Virji caught pneumonia while living a rushed business life. As the business was flourishing, so was his pneumonia. He soon succumbed to his illness and had to return home to be cared for by his wife, the long-lost grandma whom Uncle Vijay traced to Kutch!
As Virji dwindled into silence and passed away, the empire crumbled into an untraceable list of possessions. Grandma could not claim the inherited wealth or the shares of his business as she did not have the necessary "papers" to do so. It may be worth saying that the story of where the wealth went is best left unspoken.
Virji's business was the operations of cargo vessels on short sea routes from India to the nearby countries. His vessels carried cargo between India and various Middle East ports of that time. Interestingly, his great-grandchild Rahul Hariyani and I worked alongside in a shipping company in Dubai years later in 2017. Had Virji's business survived his illness, the family would now be a credible competition to Maersk and Wan Hai :-) ... and Rahul would have been the shareholding CFO! A small twist could have changed history altogether!
The worked at the sugar factory
One sweltering afternoon, in the sun-drenched corridors of the sugar factory, where molasses clung to the air like forgotten dreams, he stumbled upon a fellow worker, a woman with eyes like monsoon clouds. She squinted at him, as if peering through the haze of years.
“You are Hariyani, you have your Grandma, Sakarmaa” she whispered, “She lives in Kutch.” The words hung in the air, laden with memories. Uncle Vijay leaned closer, hungering for the past. “You know her?” he asked, his heart a compass seeking direction.
Upon further conversation, he realised that the lady knew his Grandma lived in Kutch. He remembered that Grandma left the village after the death of Grandpa. Grandma was devastated as she lost all belongings including her son, Uncle Vijay's dad, who was taken under the care of one of the Uncles. The uncle cared well and took care of his dad, hence Uncle Vijay speaks of his Uncle(s) with a sense of gratitude.
The mission to trace Grandma
The news of his Grandma living in Kutch was like a sudden rain on desert sand, giving life to a thousand seeds of curiosity buried for years. Uncle Vijay quickly hatched a plan to find Grandma and arrange for her to meet her long-lost son, his dad.
A letter was written and sent to the factory worker lady's brother who was in Kutch. The letter narrated the brief history and enough information for the recipient to connect to the "old lady living in a shack". After two attempts, the lady's brother replied stating that there was such a person and provided the address.
Now the excitement has grown into enthusiasm. Uncle Vijay could feel the emotions of finally meeting his Grandma and the excitement of getting his dad to meet his mother whom he had not seen for decades.
Sometimes the gap of not getting a reply to his letters created emptiness and the anticipation was difficult to bear. Then one fine day he received a reply from a girl who works for the local newspaper vendor stating that Grandma's health is not great and asking Uncle Vijay to make a visit soon. It was known now that Grandma was doing menial work at the newspaper vendor's shop to support herself and her simple lifestyle.
The news about Grandma's health meant that the mission needed to be accelerated. Uncle Vijay went by train from Uttar Pradesh to Kutch, and arriving in the early morning hours, walked to town and reached the newspaper vendor's shop. Having inquired, he discovered the place where Grandma lives and by daybreak found himself knocking on the door of the girl who replied to his letters. Upon seeing Uncle Vijay the girl jumped in excitement and ran into the shack where Sakarmaa, lives and shook her up to announce that her grandson was at the door.
The speechless hug
Grandma could not believe her eyes, nor believe the fact that her grandson was actually in front of her. All she could do was hug Uncle Vijay and weep in silence while processing the crazy video of the past running through her mind. She was having an avalanche of memories and a burst of emotion for having reconnected to her family of the third generation after losing touch for so many decades.
After regaining her composure she could see the face of Uncle Vijay, examine his looks and admire how her grandson has grown from baby to this grown man without her having seen him thus long. Slowly they started conversing and sharing notes about each other. It took a whole day to reach a balance between emotion and reality.
Uncle Vijay began by asking his Grandma to consider joining him on his journey back to Uttar Pradesh. What he meant was to pack her meagre belongings and "migrate" to Uttar Pradesh with him for good. Grandma was faced with a dilemma and disagreed with his plan! Her flying emotions have now made their circles and finally landed on the reality of her being the estranged wife of Virji Hariyani who was thrown out of the family upon her husband's death. She was not willing to re-unite and experiment with the social goodwill of her arrival back into the family circle! She was not sure if she would be accepted, or if she would end up as a disturbing anchor stone in a smooth-flowing river just to cause ripples within the family that has been living without her presence for the last many decades.
It took several chats, coaxing, inputs from some elders in the town and encouragement from the newspaper vendor to make Grandma agree to the shift of her base from the simple shack in Kutch to the home of her grandson at the quarters of the sugar factory in Uttar Pradesh. Uncle Vijay could now breathe the air of Kutch calmly, reflect upon the steps that got him here and take the next train back with Grandma. It was a memorable success and an unforgettable journey.
Fast forward to the end
What unfolds after arrival in Uttar Pradesh is the event of convincing his father to come over and meet his mom. His dad, Kakhu Bha, who was then living in Mumbai, finally made plans to come over and meet his mom whom he does not remember much as he was separated at a young age. He had no real memories of the young mom's face when he was separated to which he could extrapolate wrinkles and age spots to picture his mom of today. But he knew that an eager mother with years of unspoken grief was waiting to see him.
Grandma and her son, Kakhu Bha, finally met in 1973, after a 53-year separation. That was an exemplary achievement for Uncle Vijay to have rebuilt the broken bridge between two generations. The value of this gesture was hard to measure but the impact of this was going to last the rest of their lifetime.
Kakhu Bha took his mom, Sakarmaa to the Kutch Ashram in Haridwar and both of them lived there. Kakhu Bha took up a job as the administration assistant of the ashram. Sakarmaa passed away some years later feeling content, happy and blissful that she could pass on to heaven after having re-connected to her son, grandson and the rest of the family after having lost them for years.
Kakhu Bha continued serving the ashram for several years, grew old and passed away too.
Interesting re-visit
Interestingly, Rahul Hariyani and I made a visit to Haridwar recently, in September 2023 and that gave me a nice feeling of having touched a small part of this story's timeline and location :-)
... we shall continue to 1967 ... the story with another episode of Uncle Vijay's adventure of taking two 83-year-old grannies, Surajba, mother of a co-worker and Maniben, grandmother of a Gujarati person (who was an employee of a fabrication company for short-term in Barabanki) who wanted to visit Naimishnarayan Temple in the town of Naimisharanya.
Uncle Vijay worked in Barabanki from 1969 to 1986.