Aadi: Week 2 - A Widening Ravine

 

1. Minecraft Ravine Image

In 2010, at the ripe age of eight months old, Tadi (tiny Aadi), ventured outside the United States for the first time and stepped into the land of his ancestors: Bharat, also known as India. Although I cannot remember how my voyage played out, from what I have heard, Tadi had a ton of fun.

These visits became frequent, as Tadi was going to India almost once a year to spend time with both his mother’s and father’s sides of the family. His mother’s side lived in Lucknow, and were a lot more reserved and believed highly in religion, although thankfully not forcing anything onto Tadi and his parents. His father’s side lived in Amravati, and was much more social and outgoing, always wanting to have family gatherings, something Tadi did not mind at all. Tadi did not discriminate between the families, simply awaiting his eventual journey.


In 2019, Madi (medium Aadi) visited India during winter break, taking a week off of school to stay for three weeks. 


First, he went to Amravati, where one of his far too many uncles had a wedding, and although he was extremely jetlagged throughout the festivities, he thoroughly enjoyed them. Then, he joined his mother’s side, and they all took a trip to a beautiful mountain town named Nainital, a truly wonderful place where he had some of the best food he has ever had. Madi left India on the highest note possible at the end of his trip, never having a trip nearly this fun, and could not wait for his next visit.


He never had a trip as fun, not a trip at all.


In 2020, Covid’s impact cracked open the ravine separating him and that country, although at the time, like many, he did not think much of it, expecting the crust to be pulled back together within weeks, months at most. 


In 2021, travel remained difficult, halting any approaches by him.


In 2022, he pleaded with his parents to take him to India, which was met with refusal.


In 2023, his Nanu, mother’s father, fell sick, causing his mom to return to India again—her 4th time without him.


In 2024, his Nanu died, on his birthday; he knew there was no way he could ask for anything now.


In 2025, he again asked his parents to take him, but his Nani, mother’s mom, and Dadu and Dadi, father’s parents, were visiting, so what was the point of going to India now.


It’s 2026 now, and that ravine seems to be growing ever larger.


Every time a family member from India is mentioned, I am forced to tilt my head in confusion, because how the hell would I know who they are.


Every time I try speaking Hindi to my grandparents, I struggle to find the right words to say, because how the hell would I know the vocabulary I desperately wish to speak.


And every time, my parents always ask me, “why do you want to go to India so bad, you’d be bored anyway,” but how the hell would they know that, I can’t remember the last time I had a bad time in India, I can barely remember it at all.

Comments

  1. Palash DesaiSeptember 13, 2026 at 12:03 PM

    I really liked the way you used the “ravine” as a metaphor for the growing distance between you and India as it shows this separation is not just physical. I also relate to your experience of struggling to recognize distant family members or find the right Hindi vocabulary for the specific situation you are in, as I recently went to India for the first time 2 years ago, meeting relatives I did not know that existed and being forced into using a language that I do not fully understand. I found it interesting that you cannot fully remember your experiences in India but still feel a strong desire to return, making me wonder if our connection to a place comes from the people surrounding it or the memories that we can recall from it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Francesca MacapagalSeptember 16, 2026 at 8:52 PM

    I liked the way you used different names to describe yourself at different stages of life. The use of the third person created a distinct difference between the younger version of yourself and the person you are today. I also find it interesting how you broke up different years and experiences into paragraphs, because it shows through flow how your life seemed to stagnate after that magical trip to India. Your description of your frustration when trying to speak your native language to your family really resonated with me. I’m Filipino, but I don’t speak Tagalog at all! People think it’s funny to test me by saying stuff in Tagalog and seeing if I can answer. And it’s so frustrating–because even if I know some of the words, constructing a response is completely out of the realm of possibility for me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JocelynSeptember 16, 2026 at 9:46 PM

    Hi Aadi! I really enjoyed reading about your experience and relationship with India and how it changed over the course of your life. I like how you used a timeline to illustrate how the “ravine” grew wider and wider as time passed and you got older. Your use of repetition to convey this throughout the post gives it a cohesive quality. Your story resonates with me because it has also been a while since I have traveled and visited my ancestral homeland, Indonesia. I relate to the unfamiliarity of strangers who are supposedly my relatives and the struggle of piecing together words in a native language that I so deeply wish I could speak fluently. I hope that you can return to India soon and relive the experiences of your childhood!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jocelyn - Week 1: Underneath the Waves

Image
A view of the ocean similar to the one I saw (Photo credit: Bay Area Telegraph - Thomas Smith ) The sun barely makes it through the clouds. The breeze blows through my hair. My brother and I carefully walk in the sand, with our sneakers still on, and take in the view of the ocean. We are in Half Moon Bay , our parents stand on the trail with our bikes and take a break. I look towards the horizon where the sky touches the sea. Even though it is a rather chilly day, the ocean is still beautiful. Like the ocean, our identity has a public surface and layers that get much less light the deeper you go. Most of my time I spend in school or in other public spaces. On the surface, I project a version of my identity to teachers and classmates. Personally, this changes frequently depending on my mood, just like the weather changes how the ocean looks on top. Underneath this, there is a deeper layer. This is my identity as it is shown to my close friends and family. Light reaches this layer when I...
Read more

Aadi Bhojwani: Week 1 - There's No Limit to the Larp

Image
Quite a while back—I do not remember exactly when—I watched a movie—the title of which I also do not remember—where the characters are doing normal movie stuff and end up stumbling upon a park full of people dressed in medieval clothing. The central characters interact with some of the people briefly before deciding to leave, muttering something like, “let’s get away from these weirdos.” I was thoroughly confused. What was wrong with them simply choosing to express themselves through a little bit of roleplay? It honestly looked kind of fun. That form of LARPing I can definitely get behind. Unfortunately, when larping is mentioned today, that harmless fun is rarely what people are talking about. In modern day slang and media, the term is no longer refers to a literal game, and rather has become a cynical critique: the act of pretending to have an interest in, or be part of something, that you’re not. While this new slang has not deviated much from the roleplay aspect, the intention behi...
Read more

Francesca - Week 1: Digital Dialects

Image
When I was an insecure, anxiety-ridden preteen, I was obsessed with overanalyzing the way people texted. And now that I’m looking back on it, it was honestly really creepy and concerning. I was terrified of being left out, so I would monitor how close certain friends were getting with each other by studying the similarities in their texting styles. I’d also carefully reference the texts of people I liked to pick out words and phrases that I thought would make me seem cooler.  It did not, in fact, make me seem cooler.  It made people wonder why I would read their messages and type for five minutes straight before sending “aight, thx.”  Thankfully, I’m past that point in my life now. Even though I’ve left all the paranoia behind, I never stopped noticing the little choices and quirks that make everybody’s individual texting styles different. The more I think about it, the more I realize that texting can tell you a lot about a person–just maybe not as much as pre-teen me tho...
Read more