Nishma didn’t mention my uncle in the next two weeks. However, it was constantly weighing on my mind. May be a little bit more introduction of him is in order. As I had mentioned earlier, he was husband of my father’s cousin sister who was pretty close to our family at some point in time. She married a lower-caste man and hence my parent’s were not keen on keeping them in their inner circle. My aunt was pretty at one point and had was quite close to my parents. They visited us few times a year but after my Aunt’s sort of debilitating disease, which I never could understand, the frequency waned away. In the past few years, we drifted apart although my mother tried to keep in touch with them.
My uncle was not well educated and didn’t fit well in our family order. While he was brusque and insensitive at times, more often than not he spoke his mind. He had a more traditional thinking and thought of the society as well structured unit divided into various compartments. He found it difficult to resist criticizing something that was jarring to his eye. While growing up, he disciplined me more than my parents. My aunt was affectionate but didn’t disapprove of his methods. My parents were too busy managing their social status, so I didn’t mind it. While he had the right intention his ways were rather coercive and that became a problem once I grew up.