I cannot remember when I started working on this book, perhaps the idea was always brewing within me and it was merely a matter of time when I punched the words on to the keyboard.
I want to believe that I was forever writing the chapters in my head subconsciously but I needed time to navigate through my memories accumulated over the years.
For a long time, I believed that unless I visited our neighboring country, unless I touched, saw and felt my parents’ homeland, walked the path they did and inhaled the same fragrance, I would not be able to do justice to their story.
In the meantime, years rolled into decades…
A few years ago, my oldest sister, Motiben, on my sibling number three Rajabhai’s request, penned some facts of the family on paper.
Rajabhai, who lives in Toronto, was going through a phase where he needed clarity on chronology.
Motiben did that. She asked me if I would like a copy of her handwritten sheets and I said ‘yes’.
That night I read her pearl-like hand-written notes in Gujarati again and again. She had drawn up a list of our ancestors, our various homes and locations.
Perhaps this was the road map I had been waiting for….
I was excited, yes but the way forward was still hazy…
To be continued….