Letters to my ancestors

In terms of a creative project that I have worked on recently is writing letters to my ancestors. I find this very cathartic and it brings me inner peace. One of my relatives in India gave me and many other relatives our comprehensive family tree that goes back to around 1500. My ancestor then was a gentleman named Rai Gulab Chand. He was a minister for a king in Kashmir, India, but then had to move to Awadh (now Uttar Pradesh, India) and since then most of his future generations lived in and around the Jaunpur area.

I was given a copy of this list in 2018 when I visited India. I currently live in Canada. After I returned to Canada I looked at the names in the family tree that went back more than 25 generations. I read each name softly and it brought a tear to my eye when I thought of each of the ancestors. Along with the family tree there was a small book in which my relative wrote a little bit about the various ancestors. Often it was one or two sentences about each person as he had done research and talked with their descendants in the Jaunpur area.

Each week since then on Saturdays I would write to one ancestor. It would be one or two pages and I would tell them about my life, my family, my work, etc. I would also thank them and tell them I am very happy to be their descendant. I would try to make these letters as emotional as possible. After I completed a letter I would keep it in a safe drawer and then read it after 6 months or so. So, every subsequent Saturday I would write to another ancestor and after 25 weeks I would complete it. Then I would take a break for a few weeks and then again on Saturdays I would write one letter each to my ancestors.

Later when it would be 6 months after each letter I would start reading them as well. This exercise gave me a lot of things to ponder, think about how my ancestors lived hundreds of years ago in India, brought me more closer to India, my family, relatives, etc. Often I would think of the hard work and sacrifices they must have made for their families. After Rai Gulab Chand for many generations my ancestors were farmers and small landlords. They must have faced many challenges over the years including severe weather, oppression under the British rule, etc.

My first letter to Rai Gulab Chand explained a little bit how wonderful Canada is, its people and how beautiful a country it is. My second letter to Jwala Prasad (my great grandfather) asked about the conditions in India in 1910s when he was growing up and how his family was. All letters were unique. I knew that if I posed questions in the letters I would not get answers but I still liked to pose questions sometimes out of interest. I could very well imagine what the responses would be.

I am grateful that I do this exercise. I think I will keep doing it for the forseeable future. It brings a lot of insight for me into my life, my family, my original country and my past. After doing it I do feel more connected with people and in a sense 'more alive.'

In closing, I thank all my family, relatives and ancestors. I am very happy and proud to be a descendant of Rai Gulab Chand from India.