Hate and Love Stories

 My friend is such a nice person and so it was a big surprise for me. I couldn’t believe when he told me that his brother was not on good terms with him. I heard this when they met after several years when his brother visited the hospital to see their mother who was in the ICU. It was a non-emotional discussion as if nothing had happened between them. Even their mother’s state could bring no attachment. I didn’t ask him the reason. His brother later came to his home when their mother was discharged and spent some time with my friend’s kids. I was wondering whether the kids would love their uncle at any part of their lives. It depends!

One of the gifts of having old people at home is the stories we hear from them. Family stories travel generation after generations. They are extraordinarily powerful and influential. My dad used to tell about his grandfather and I believed those and felt that I should become like him. In fact, I am following a few even now. I always feel like meeting those people who my mom often talks about, those who helped her in her schooldays and later when she moved from her native. I don’t think I’ll make any attempt to trace them but if I get a chance to meet them, that would be a meeting of a few people who are close to my heart. Our relationships are beyond the blood relations. It is all depends - depends on the stories.

You rarely find a family tree that is free of unresolved conflicts. It is almost natural as whatever can help to reduce the conflict are going to be the reasons for the conflict too. It can be money. It can be fame and power. It can even be love. The stories that get transferred to the next generation determine the connectedness among the younger generations. The stories you hear from your parents and your grandparents can break or make a relationship at any point of time.

You can tell stories. In fact, you can’t avoid telling stories. It is because of the human need to reflect on one’s past. The older you get, the lesser the possibilities of holding them back. At least, accidentally you will share it with someone. Some stories will help to build a relationship and some will help to keep away from it. The stories of humiliation and betrayal can easily touch the heart of the receiver and become an instant destroyer. You tell a story to warn. You tell a story to inspire. The greatest stories are the ones that are never told and buried with oneself to leave something good unaltered. What you remember becomes a story and so practice on what you want to remember.