How often do I tell my own stories? All the time I tell myself. when I talk to myself or to others in my daily life ! I tell my stories through having conversations, by sharing photos and by writing them too.
My personal story I am compelled to tell by writing about it is based on my family photograph taken sometime during early 1950s in a small town called Nanyuki (Kenya). I can’t remember this photo ever having been taken and certainly have not seen it until few days ago when my youngest sister posted it to me via email. My youngest sister, sixth down the family tree had the actual photo in her possession for over 50 years but she is not even in the photo and hardly recognises anyone in it ? So why and how did she get hold of the family photo ? She left the family home in a hurry at the age of 15 with very little personal possessions?
The mystery is yet to be solved but the subject of my story is naming all eight members of my extended family in the photo, four young teenagers boys and four girls. The three boys wearing turbans were my three older brothers, Balwant , Joginder and Pritam. All three were once without turbans not long ago before this photo was taken. I know this because I have seen another family photo of all three in it. In this earlier photo the youngest one had short curly hair, middle brother’s hair was plaited and the eldest one was wearing a hat over short curly hair . My father who was originally from a Hindu background , converted to Sikhism. The story I heard why he became Sikh and started wearing a turban was because he wanted to give up smoking cigarettes. In Sikhism, smoking is taboo! It worked for my father, I have never seen him anywhere near a cigarette even when he emigrated to UK in 1960 and gave up his turban and went back to shaving his beard and wore short hair. While growing up in Nanyuki, all his three sons had no options but to take up Sikhism and follow their father’s religion and I believe that the above photo was taken to show off their new looks? The fourth young teenager looking Danny with his short hair and holding on to a cycle was my cousin Updesh.
The three young girls sitting down who are all wearing their Sunday best clothes no doubt, with beautiful combed hair braided into plaits are: my eldest cousin called Mashi ( far right ) and her younger sister Arun and finally my eldest sister Krishna on the far left of the photo.
The fourth girl of three years of age is held back by my eldest brother Balwant and she is looking down rather than at the camera like the rest. I like to believe that this person is little version of ME ? Sadly my brother Balwant and all the other boys in the photo have passed away who might have been able to help me identify the little ME in the photo!
That photo of little ME, looking down on the ground, seems to have bad hair day, looking bit wild and ungovernable? Yes that is definitely little ME.
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