Many things lie in what we conveniently call the “dumping room” in our houses for decades together, uncared-for and covered in dust. The junk comprises age-old furniture, books, newspaper cuttings, pictures, photos, century-old letters, curios, medals, documents with British stamps and seals and so on. They lie there unattended to for decades together and in some cases, even centuries together for in our opinion, they are junk and there is no point wasting our precious time on them.
Most things occupy the lofts and remain there undisturbed. I am one who is keen on keeping old stuff, adhering to the adage “old is gold”. My collections include books on varied subjects in English and Tamil, my mother tongue, and files with copies of my articles, short stories and poems published in different journals in the past five decades. Some files contain my appointment orders, certificates of appreciation, promotion advice, salary particulars and so on, covering my long career of over 45 years in banks and also other corporate entities after my retirement from the Japanese bank I served last. Though all those are filed properly, no doubt they occupy a precious space in our anteroom meant to be adorned with beautiful dolls, curios of real interest and pictures of our family.
Needless to stress, this has become an eyesore to the others, particularly my wife. She nags me at regular intervals to dispose them of as they have outlived their utility and are of no more use to us both who have turned septuagenarians now. This becomes a loud cry at the end of every year when the entire house is cleaned and some of the unwanted items are mercilessly thrown into the dustbin. I have been resisting her plea all these years, but wonder whether I would be able to save my stuff anymore as she has already guessed that I have almost decided to give in.
Most of those who are keen on keeping their house spaces spick and span and free of junk and ancestral stuff should visit my house one day. Much against the wishes of my family, I brought a beautiful rosewood table with carvings of the best kind found among the so-called junk in my grandmother’s ancestral house at Manapad which adorns our main hall now. No person who visits our house for the first time fails to fall in love with this piece, which is already an antique now. My grandma has informed me that the table of Burmese origin was bought by my grandfather in Colombo and ferried to Manapad in 1917 when my mother, their first child, was born. It was meant to seat a big cute baby doll sent along with the table. The table is hence 103 years old. Now my family does realise that this beautiful antique is priceless.
Recently, a nephew of mine gave me a pleasant surprise when he said that while digging through the items left behind by Pius Fernando, his grandfather, at his Manapad home, he stumbled upon a letter dated April 15, 1935 the latter got from Vienna from Subhas Chandra Bose which speaks of the close friendship they had, particularly their contribution to the Indian freedom struggle. Though Pius was known as a freedom fighter to many, we understand that only a few of his age in his inner circle were aware of his intimate friendship with Bose.
Tell me now, is it wrong to keep safe our elders’ possessions?
tharci@yahoo.com
