Every time I had been to Orissa during the last ten years, I had tried to keep one evening for a family reunion. Bhubaneswar is a good place for such an event since many of our cousins live there. We had scheduled it for the evening of Saturday, July 25. It was not easy to contact all people through the short time, but my sister and a cousin had tried their best to reach out. Dr. Laxmicharan and Soumya had reached back to Bhubaneswar in the morning. I had asked Soummya to pick me up at the University. I begged leave of the Faculty and students in the Sanskrit Department. I hugged my friend and mentor Dr Pattanayak and then took a ride with Soumya. On our way, we stopped by to visit a friend who was helping to create a website for my father. Bhubaneswar was going through a student protest relating to the Students Union elections. I did not have time to understand the dynamics. We chose to take some alternate roads to avoid the protest. Such marches are mostly engineered to create unrest. When the Government remains non-functional, the students vent their frustration in some manner. The youth has energy, we did protests when we were young. The general population appeared tired and sleepy.
Family is a larger concept in Indian sociology than what is adopted in the west. Long time ago, the structure of gotra "clan" entered the Indian social structure to help create pointers to an origin of a clan. Unlike the western idea of Adam and Eve, the clan concept assumed a set of men who were originally "created" and were asked to "conceive" the human race. In its base there possibly lies the empirical observation that a male progeny was required to continue the genetic traits of the clan.
The analysis of human reproduction and the continuity of a clan did become a part of the early Vedic analysis. We do not know if people did observe that the male signature decayed in time and would need readjustment. While we come to know some of these through modern scientific discoveries, we do not know the basis of obsession of obtaining a male child. In the Indian cultural tradition, the male children were given preference to claim that they "belonged", meaning possibly that they carried the necessary male chromosome to help in propagation by producing further male progeny.
It is possible that the original "family" unit was with the establishment of a homestead where the family could sustain itself. Others with similar aptitude could join to make a village. The division of labor in order to sustain a productive life might have been a gradual development. As units became larger, rules might have come to play which could add administrative and political structure to the process. The Indian villages do continue to respect the original homestead that is recognized to have helped create the development of the village.
We belong to a village near the old Temple at Puri. It is believed that a King in the fifteenth century established sixteen villages around the Temple to help create the support system for the temple to supply grains, fruits, flowers and articles. The villages have collectively fulfilled this commitment while protecting the interests of individual residents. Ours is one of many houses that are part of the village. The village itself operates as a family having been connected with gotra and lineage.
With urbanization and lack of stress on agriculture, the connection to the village is gradually eroding. In the case of our family, my father's youngest brother chose to maintain the homestead and stayed in the village. The village living is tranquil with fresh food and clean air. The sanitary conditions are poor and cause pollution of water. The nucleus of India's society is in a village and they need support in order that the culture of India might continue to flourish.
We were meeting at an apartment building at the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. There was an unoccupied unit in the building which owned by my sister and her husband. Meeting in a private space has its advantage as regards the flexibility and customization, but locating the place can be heard. The addressing system in towns in India is much to be desired, one needs familiarity to locate an address. One has to explain clearly the roads, the landmarks and the turns. Occasionally there could be security problems.
My uncle's older daughter was a researcher in fisheries and lived in Bhubaneswar. She took the lead in connecting to our relatives. The relatives were defined by the family of late Sri Nilakantha Misra, my paternal grandfather. He had four sons, my father was the eldest. He had three daughters, who have passed away. We are thirty three grandchildren, all married with children. My grandfather passed away in 1963, my father passed away in 2000. The uncles are surviving. Three among the grandchildren have passed away, one in young age and the other two in adult age.
My father was a public man. He had a large circle of friends whom we considered part of our family. I particularly remember our neighbors when I was growing up as a kid in Cuttack. They were affectionate to me and continue to join us in our family events. Many are getting old. Poet Dr Sitakanta Mahapatra and his wife Basanti did come by. Basanti was among many aunts I had through the friendship of my mother. They bring in my mother's memory. They are very loving.
We were about thirty people gathered in that unit. My uncle Sri Lokamaohan and aunt did travel from Puri to join us. My sister Aparimita presented a short program of songs to entertain us. Some others also sang. We had exchange of recollections and narration of memorable events. The uncle complimented all to be together and help maintain the family tradition. My aunt was particularly happy to observe the reunion and the felicitation.
Food was supplied by a local caterer who helped in serving. My sister's husband Sri Anjan had helped to arrange the food and the furniture. Her younger daughter Aditi was the most active person overseeing all arrangements. She was completing her Law degree and wished to enter Corporate management. There were others in the gathering who were engineers, physicians and lawyers. All arrangements were good and we finished the event bay about 10 PM. It was an evening of nostalgia.
