From birthday memories to Vaccine Musings in India

How the pandemic has changed everything including birthdays

Dear Reader,

Warm greetings from India!

Thank you, thank you for subscribing to Svara's Newsletter! 

I am excited to have you onboard as my first reader - I am also grateful for this opportunity to journey together. So onward we go together now! 

Today is my birthday.

I have turned a year older (no kidding!) and the tiny queue of wrinkles beneath my eyes are testimony to the fact that I have many stories to tell.

Okay, so you are probably laughing out aloud.

First, let me take you through a virtual tour of the happiest memories of my childhood.  All the way from my early childhood years in Iran and Africa, I hold on to snippets of fleeting memories that play musical chairs in my heart. 

I can close my eyes and inhale the scent of love in the air.  

My parents' love - their laughter and hugs. How I miss my mom’s delicious cooking!

Our beautiful nest of love in Africa, which was surrounded by bright dahlia flowers in red and white hues. 

Popping balloons in different colours.

Birthday celebrations surrounded by friends.

To me, my birthday cake was synonymous with love, laughter and light. 

Everytime I blew out the candles, shimmering their warmth, I imagined angels listening to my wishes and making them come true with their gossamer wings turning into magic wands. 

There was a festival at home every year, and that was my birthday.

I saw God on my birthday and my life was never the same again. 

That's another story that should be in my memoirs more than in this newsletter.

My mom would toil in the kitchen all day to cook and prepare things. No Swiggy, Zomato or fancy apps. Just the scent of Mom’s cooking would fill our home!

The scent of home made cake, sweet desserts and delicious food coming to life. 

A feast + lots of love = My Birthday

The kind of untainted and unconditional love that you find nowhere else anymore.

Back then, my sister and I used to have so much fun! 

She is settled in Sydney now and we haven't seen each other for about four years - which feels like a lifetime. More than anything, I miss spending time with my super smart nephew Vihaan and my sweet niece, the sweetest ever munchkin Aishani. 

Talking of birthday celebrations in Lusaka, I recall Grace aunty's love - she was my mom's closest friend while we lived in Zambia. Their laughter and weekend lunches punctuated and threaded our life together like one family throughout the years.

Grace aunty's culinary expertise is the stuff of legends and her cakes came out like the artistic works of Michelangelo. 

Any occasion in either of our families, we would celebrate it together. In her own way, Grace aunty made us feel special.

For me, birthdays are a reminder of my parents and their incredible love. The two people in my life who love me unconditionally, whose life is centred around me and whose sacrifices have been for my happiness alone.

This birthday reminds me to be grateful for being alive at a time when we have lost many loved ones and tragically so.

This birthday, I am a Vaccine Woman, literally.

So, yes, last week, I got my first vaccine dose at the Supreme Court. And it didn’t hurt!

As a doctor, my father used to say that it used to be so embarrassing to take me for vaccination when I was a kid. Just one look at the pointy needle and I would start running around the room. The nurses would use all their reserves of patience and waste their precious time and would tempt me with a bottle of Fanta and chocolates to come out of hiding.

Now I am not flinching. Needles still scare the living daylights out of me and I am so tempted to run! But I doubt I want to create a hilarious scene at the Supreme Court.

So, this time, I hold on to my reserves of tolerance for the needle and learn to stare at my fear directly in the face. 

I pretend that I am not afraid of the needle.

The needle, with its years of experience around me, knows better and has its moment of triumph at last as it gives me a jab!

Still I must say this: Hats off to the Supreme Court Bar Association in New Delhi for their efficient administration of the entire initiative.

Even as grim stories pour in through TV channels and news updates, the administrative staff at the Supreme Court did their job with patience, warmth and dedication. 

Hats off to the country's apex court and its personnel!

I hope that you get your jab soon and don't postpone it, even if you have to battle your fear of the needle as I did.

As Salman Rushdie observes in his latest NYT essay,  "Perhaps tales from elsewhere always feel like fairy tales. But for me, the real wonder tales were closer to home, and I have thought it my great good fortune as a writer to have grown steeped in them."

In the same column, Rushdie goes on to share his fascination about the story from Mahabharata - of Indra churning the Milky Way and the author shares that he began to "see stars in a new way."

The real life stories I want to share with you are meant to do exactly that - to nudge you out of your comfort zone and let you gaze at your life and pivotal relationships in a new way.

In case you are feeling braver than I am, listen to this podcast on Disgusting Food Museum which features a lot of puke-worthy items including vomit counters!

Before I sign off, let me just recommend a book that is a must-read if you are curious about India - The Last Queen.

In case you are up for some serious spiritual reading, more like back to the basics, the complete works of Sri Adi Sankaracharya are a must-read  and for writers, artists and those who love their pursuit of knowledge, know more about the significance of Mahasarasvati.

See you next week when we journey together again! 

Don't hesitate to share any questions or queries you have for me. 

Reach me at swapnazanand@gmail.com and I'd be happy to connect.

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