A visitor came home on Saturday with a bouquet of roses for my daughter in love Manjiree. Normally whoever comes home brings a box of sweets which is the norm here but, this lady guest, a physician, decided that the three of us should not have sweets and instead brought the roses.
After she left, Manjiree arranged the flowers in a copper vessel which she would have rescued from some hidden corner either in the kitchen or the sideboard or wherever. I had not seen the vessel shown here holding the flowers in years. The vessel has a story behind it and this sudden appearance of it has triggered that memory.
Urmeela and I got married in November 1968 and after our honey moon went off to Delhi to set up our first ever home. In January 1969, the man who had recruited me for my then employer, Jimmy Twaddel was returning from the UK after Christmas holidays, to our Mill location in Kerala. He and his wife, were stopping over at Delhi to visit Delhi as well as Agra as by late 1969 they expected to return to our Head Office in Glasgow.
The two of them were staying at Delhi’s then only five star hotel The Oberoi and invited the two of us to dinner as, Jimmy wanted to get to know Urmeela the latest entrant to the company’s club of wives. For those who think that this is odd, it was the custom of almost all British organisations in India then to be small with the Management cadre as a well knit family. As they grew larger and mergers and acquisitions played havoc with cultures, that changed but, at that point of time, it was still the practice for Senior Managers to take an interest in the affairs of Junior Managers.
For both Urmeela and me, The Oberoi was an experience by itself. The first five star hotel in Delhi that we had gone to and we were extremely happy to be invited. After the dinner and as we were parting company, the Twaddels presented us with a largish box as a wedding gift. We thanked them and came to our quarters and opened the package to find this vessel. There was a note inside in Jim’s impeccable handwriting in cursive to the effect that it was a copper vessel and drinking water stored in it overnight would be very helpful for both of us. There was a small booklet to the same effect attached to the letter.
This was the first ever wedding gift that we received other than the envelopes of cash that we had at the reception and Urmeela cherished it for that reason. It has travelled all over the country with us on a number of transfers and after many years has once again made an entrance into my life! Seeing that again, brought back memories of my interview with Jim and subsequent meetings as well as this wonderful gift that his lovely wife and he gave us.
Marvelous story. It also is true in the U.S. that companies and even government organizations once had much more of a “family” feeling about them than they exhibit today. The change is not for the better.
I received three telephone calls from friends of my vintage from different companies to appreciate what I had written and to reminisce about the ‘good old days’ and how things are vastly different now.
oh I love that!
I have very few things left that invoke memories like that. I’m glad you can cherish it still.
and it’s true. American corporations are known to be more judgmental and cutthroat rather than familial. a loss to themselves and to society as well.
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Frankly, I had forgotten all about it till Manjiree brought it out of hiding! I won’t let it out of my sight any more and will use it as a vase regularly.
Another heartwarming post. Thank you. 🙂
My pleasure entirely Monk.
Love the story. I am glad that the vase is still at your home and can come out from time to time from a cupboard together with the memories.
Frankly, I had forgotten all about it till Manjiree brought it out of hiding Anna! I won’t let it out of my sight any more and will use it as a vase regularly.
What a lovely, touching story. Thank you for sharing!
Entirely my pleasure Kaitlin.
I have heard that copper is one of the best minerals to have, for your health. I didn’t know, however, that merely by drinking the water that stood in a copper vessel , you could have its benefits! Good to know! This is a beautiful story, Rummuser, and so typical of you!
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I have a bedside copper vessel in which I store water overnight and drink it first thing every morning. I have never had any digestion problems since I started that practice. Thank you.
Hi Rummy,
First, what a beautiful vase.
Second, have you ever met Jim and his wife again (ever since)?
Cheers
Yes, I met both of them when they exited India via Mumbai where by that time we had been posted. Jim went back to the UK and left the company to pursue his ambition of teaching college students. Much later, in 1986 I met his son in Australia during a conference. He was working for the same company in New Zealand and it was nice getting to know him. I however lost touch with the family after that as I left the company in 1990.
yes that was my question – have you met the vase givers since…
and I can relate to looking at things that have memories that no one else would assume an object had. Having just recently opened up my memory suitcases. I’m hoping when living returns to be 75% living I can take my treasures and display them.
Manjiree is certainly “finding out about you…through the triggers”
No Cathy, I haven’t after 1992. I met their son though in 1986 in Australia. He was working in New Zealand incidentally. I lost touch with them after that as, I left the company in 1990.