Moment:
Tuesday, July 9th, 2019 at 1:37 PM IST
“Those garlands are a dead giveaway that you are tourists, because Indians just take it off and toss it aside right after someone puts it on them.“
When we arrived at our hotel in Agra, we were warmly welcomed with garlands of jasmines and marigolds. Our tour guide told us that in Indian culture, jasmines represent purity and marigolds represent prosperity, so being presented with a garland was a sign of respect.
Jasmines are an integral part of Indian culture, and have always been a part of every special occasion for us, as they are commonly worn as a string in your hair or a garland around your neck. The first time I learned how to tie a string of jasmines from my grandma was when I was 7. Jasmines smell REALLY good, so we bought two jasmine plants to raise at home, and she and I would sit on the porch, pick the individual flowers off the plant, and knot them together with some white thread.
When we visited my grandma’s brother’s house, we saw that they had a jasmine tree (I didn’t realize they ever got bigger than a bush), and I realized I needed a refresher in the art of making jasmine garlands. After over a decade, my grandma and I once again sat down with a bowl of freshly picked jasmines and she methodically showed me how to make the perfect knots to hold the flowers together.
I had a rough start, because I would either tie it too tight and cut the stems with the thread, or tie it too loose and the flowers would just fall off. But once I got the hang of it, it became easier to multitask, kind of like when you crochet in front of the TV (or eat a whole bag of chips, don't @ me), so while I worked on my new floral arranging skills, I started interviewing my great-uncle to learn more about my family history and my grandma’s childhood.
My grandma’s older brother’s name is Poorna Chandra Rao, BA. He was named after his grandfather, as were 7 of his cousins, because every one of his father’s 8 siblings named one of their sons Poorna Chandra Rao. They all lived on the same block, so when the mailman used to try to deliver packages to any one of them, he would go to all 8 of their houses trying to find the right one. My grand-uncle, however, was the first person in the entire district to have gone to college, so his name was the only one that displayed the BA after it, as earning a Bachelors of Arts in Economics in 1952.
He is the oldest of five, with four younger sisters, so he shouldered the responsibility of being like a second father to his younger siblings. He was a big supporter for my grandma, Dr. M Leela Praveen, to pursue an education, as his other sisters were married at a young age and did not really have that opportunity. He financially supported her through medical school, and got his job transferred to Kurnool where my grandmother studied. When my grandma would study, he used to sit outside and chase off dogs that would come close to her door so she wouldn’t get distracted.
They were born and raised Hindu, and he is a devout Hindu who has said that it is personally important for him to maintain the beliefs that his parents did, but he still vouched for my grandma to their father for her to get married to my grandpa, Dr. M Praveen Kumar, who was a Christian. She and some of her family members are also Christian now, but at the time, her father was disapproving of their marriage due to religious differences and only allowed them to proceed largely due to her older brother’s intercession, so I guess I have him to thank for my awesome grandparents and mom :)
When I finished making my short string of jasmines, I asked if we could take a picture together. He agreed and called the rest of his family over, then we all squeezed into the frame and took a picture with my phone’s self timer. I scrolled through all of the photos, and my great-uncle wasn’t smiling in a single one of them, but when I showed him the photo, he immediately broke into a huge grin and said, “Look, my hair is whiter than those jasmines!”
