Family Histories

Part 1 : Frozen Fragments of Time

All our stories begin in the past. No matter who we are now, it is the journeys taken in the past that has led to the origin of who we are.

I’ve been documenting my parents memories for a while now — mostly with the intent to preserve their unique experiences for my children, who will never know the Kerala, the India and even the world they were born and brought up in. This summer, as I pick up the thread of documentation again, we find ourselves in the 1950s and 60s in Kerala. A land of contradictions.

My father’s story begins in 1953, in Cherukunnu as the son of a railway guard, Balakrishnan Nair and Satyabhama. He is one of seven children — six brothers and one sister.

My mother’s story begins in 1960 in Payannur. The second daughter of a well known journalist TKG Nair and Sulochana Nair. She has one elder sister and one younger brother.

These are two of the oldest studio photographs from their childhood. A black and white fragment of frozen time. We all have versions of these in our childhood homes. Framed photos of our previous generations posed artfully for a photographers lens.

Our personal histories often intertwine with the public — the politics of the time, the cultural situations all lending to circumstances in our life that lead to formative experiences. I’ve seen this happen in my parents memories too. Remembering the year associated with a specific memory because it was the year Pandit Nehru passed away. Remembering the year the communist party split into two in Kerala as it was the year one’s father got a new job. The personal is always political.

And so with this, I start a journey into my family history trying to see glimpses of my self in what has gone before, even as I try to create a bridge from the past to the present for my children.

More soon.