#SoCS Aug. 15/2020

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “pro/con.” Talk about the pros and cons of anything. Enjoy!

I believe we think about the pros and cons of something or the other at different stages of our lives. Making decisions depends on many issues, we think about the advantages and disadvantages of taking a step before taking a decision. Of course at that moment we do what we think is right and it is only later that we come to know whether we have taken the right decision.

Talking about decisions my thoughts go back to 1979. My father worked in the Indian Railways. In that year about five hundred employees under many officers were sent on deputation to Nigeria. My father was the Controller of Stores.  I remember my parents discussing the pro and cons of going to Nigeria. The money would be welcome. But at that time my doddappa and doddamma were in Liberia and my parents were thinking about my grandfather. How could both sons be far away from him? Then my grandfather went to stay with his daughter. My parents were in Nigeria from 1979 to 1982. In one way it was a good decision because they were able to purchase two acres of land and a house in the town where my maternal grandparents lived. My parents lived there for more than thirty years after my father retired.

But my grandfather passed away in 1980 in his cousin’s house. He was 87 ,mentally and physically active till the end. Both his sons were far away from him. That is life.

I spent my summer vacations in Nigeria. The campus was good. One summer, my parents, my younger brother and myself went round many countries in Europe. As my father was in the Indian Railways, we went by train to all those countries. I loved Rome. I had been dreaming of going to Rome after seeing Roman Holiday. I remember throwing a coin over my shoulder into Trevi fountain. I had read that I would return to Rome if I did that.

And, coincidence or not, I did return to Rome in 1988, with my husband 😊 and loved seeing all those places again, specially the fountain. But that time I did not throw any coins into the fountain. It was not because I weighed the pros and cons of that action, I just did not.

As a last thought, I think pro et contra sounds better than pros and cons 😊.

Trevi Fountain | fountain, Rome, Italy | Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trevi-Fountain

By Lakshmi Bhat

I am a person who believes there is not enough darkness in the world to extinguish the light of a small candle. We live in a small place in South India. I love reading, blogging, stitching, traveling, photography, listening to people and many other things which make life so very nice and interesting. Blogging is a fun experience, it has brought me into contact with people in different parts of the world and it is good to read about their everyday life. In spite of the differences there is a sameness which is fascinating. I have learnt and am learning something everyday. I have learnt to write haikus. I enjoy combining the thought and the number of syllables. I have always read books and I was happy to write short fiction. I had thought I would not be able to do so. Stream of Consciousness and photo challenges are fun too. Yes, there is so much in life that is sad and that hurts us. Many a time I wonder why life is so unfair to so many. We all have problems in life but the problems of many seems unbearable. This makes me feel so helpless. It is not possible to help everyone but we can do our bit, we can do something to help some in whatever way we can. Twice a week I used to go to a home for the mentally challenged . But I have not gone there since March 2020. I will start going there again but I do not know when. There have been many challenges in life and we have faced them with a positive approach. Our grandson and granddaughter have made life so much more richer.

9 comments

  3. One tries to make the best decision they can based on what one knows at the time.

    You have so many interesting memories here! Even though his sons weren’t there, your grandfather died the way I think most of us would like to go, mentally and physically active until the end.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Around midnight he told his nephew, who is a doctor that he was having some pain in his chest and within ten minutes he was gone. He used to write letters regularly to all his grandchildren. That morning he had written to all of us. In the evening he went for his evening walk. I think all of us pray for such a death.

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      1. I took care of my husband’s mother until she died. She was 94, and couldn’t get around so well anymore, nor did her hands work so well . She said she had lived far longer than she wanted to. Your grandfather had the kind of death she so wanted.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I had no idea you had lived in Nigeria, nor that you had the joy of traveling all over Europe on the train. Have you written at all about the summer experiences in Nigeria? I would find the fascinating.

    Liked by 1 person

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