Born in pre-partition India, her childhood involved shifting locations seasonally from the cold, mountainous regions of Quetta, Balochistan to the fertile plans of Sindh afar..
But, she took to the travel without hesitation… her motto, “Chhades Pachchar”!
Only a teenager of 15, her homeland was partitioned to shatter her childhood memories, requiring her to move base to independent India without as much as a scar..
But, overnight she migrated to her new homeland… her slogan “Chhades Pachchar”!
A late teenager when she was married to my grand-father in the days when childhood was foregone quickly because early marriages were the norm and age was no bar..
But, she easily became part of her new family.. her golden words “Chhades Pachchar”!
If marriage came fairly easy, child-bearing was not so with its fair bit of challenges, surgeries & recoveries, always requiring her to keep the door of her faith ajar..
Later, she was divinely blessed for her conviction and letting go of her past ~ “Chhades Pachchar”!
Hitting her senior years, her growing family required her to shift homes within Mumbai, moving to Andheri from her known & well-connected neighbourhood of Khar..
But, her new location seamlessly defined her Guru Granth-sahib’s destination.. her mantra. “Chhades Pachchar”!
My grand-father passed away almost suddenly, in his late 60’s and this shock was definitely not easy for her to cross-over, especially with her devotion to her life’s star..
But, as the past had taught her, her resilience renewed her resolve “Chhades Pachchar”!
The onset of ovarian cancer in her early-80’s made her small built even more demure and the chemo sessions showed up as a head-naftin (napkin) but her attitude was always at par..
Even the cancer had to accept defeat, thanks to her stance of “Chhades Pachchar”!
Not to be outdone, as her age progressed, her physical ailments continued in one form or another, this time in the avatar of an abdominal hernia that seemed bizarre..
But, she accepted it as life’s part & parcel, existing but not disturbing ~ “Chhades Pachchar”!
Her memory begun to fade & physical mobility came to a pause recently and she was on bed all day, challenging her ‘halandi halaye’ (self-sufficiency) prayer – by now, she’d understood enough of life’s bazaar..
So, surely as the time came, she managed to tell life itself “Chhades Pachchar”!
As she joins the heavens and gives us all ‘aaseesa’ from above, she knows well enough, like her japa-mala, the samsara of life & death is perpetual and she won’t want it to continue for her too far..
Given her attachment to 'non-attachment', it won’t be surprising if she soon becomes one with the Almighty, telling cyclical karma itself “Chhades Pachchar”!
