Memory Trigger 3. The Ring.

GP who featured in my post Memory Trigger 2, had come over to our place to exchange Diwali greetings a few days ago. She was accompanied by her husband, two children, her father and her mother in law. A full house and we had a grand time talking about the blog post, diwali, the children’s schooling etc. It was also her son Shasa’s birthday and it was quite a noisy time that we all had for a few hours.

During all the chatter, GP noticed that I was wearing a ring with a gun metal stone and since her son was studying about birthstones asked him to try and find out from me as to why I wear the ring. And that triggered off another journey down memory lane.

No, I do not wear the ring for any beneficial effect that it’s stone may bring to me. Since my sun sign is Cancer, I am told that I should wear emerald, moonstone, pearl, or ruby. In addition to the Zodiac stones, moonstone is listed as the Planetary stone for Cancer and sapphire as the Talismanic Stone. I just found out that by googling for my birthstone!

There however is a story behind the ring which I shared with Shasa and all the others assembled at the Diwali gathering.

My readers would recollect that my late wife Urmeela was the sister of two of my close friends. Urmeela’s elder sister Promeela was also a friend who subsequently became my sister in law. I had known Urmeela and Promeela for eight years before our marriage. Promeela could not attend the wedding as she was away in Nigeria at that time. Things being what they were then, she could not come down to India till nine years after our marriage. When she did, she organised a grand wedding anniversary do at their place in Hyderabad to which Urmeela, Ranjan and I had driven down from Bombay. Please click on the following image to get a larger resolution of a photograph taken on that occasion which was exactly 39 years ago today. Yes, this post is being written on our wedding anniversary day which is special for a couple of other reasons too within the family with another wedding anniversary and a birthday on the same day.

That photograph incidentally is from the album about which I had written in my post Memory Trigger 1. It is only one of many that were taken that evening but the only one that shows Urmeela, me, Promeela and my mother in law, all in one.  You can see Promeela standing second from right. Ranjan sitting between Urmeela and me, was unhappy being called away for the photo op from playing with his cousins in the courtyard.  Every person in the photograph brings back memories and sadly except four including me and Ranjan, none are alive today.

At that party, Promeela, being one with a great sense of humour and a wit, characterestically asked me in the presence of her brothers if I had received any dowry from the family and on being told that the answer was ‘no’, she whipped out a gift parcel and this ring was the gift inside. I wear it proudly as the dowry that I received for marrying Urmeela.  Let us not go into what Urmeela and Ranjan received on that occasion!