Sunday 10 January 2010

A Cup of Snow

Last night while I was putting the paper bag out, the scent of snow re-awakened a memory. Not my own memory, but the memory of my favourite Uncle when he was 17 years old.
He was deeply in love at the time, and his misfortune was to be torn away from her for a family holiday in Kashmir. What could he do to prove his fidelity and steadfastness? He would bring back snow!
So on the last night, he trudged up to the highest part of the mountain in Gulmarg, and filled a bottle with fresh scented snow. He capped it, and on his return to the houseboat in Srinagar, tenderly tucked it into the fridge, awaiting its long journey home to Bombay. That night he slept the sleep of the valiant, victorious lover.

The next morning, to his utter horror, he discovered the bottle contained a mere quarter of its contents. A dribble of water. "Who touched my bottle of snow?" he bellowed. And my grandfather, equally horrified, confessed with deepest apologies. He had been terribly thirsty in the night, and discovering a bottle of cold water in the fridge, had thankfully glugged it down.


Image from the bbc website of a Kashmiri boy in Srinagar, India, carrying a bag of sand...

16 comments:

Maggie May said...

what a charming story!

Tess Kincaid said...

Bottle of snow! What a cute story. We've about 8 inches on the ground today and a chilly 18 degrees F.

Renee said...

Shaista the blog looks amazing.

I love this story and I love favourite uncles. I had one.

You are so amazing and I love you.

Angelique goes to see her nephrologist tomorrow. Wish her luck.

Love Renee xoxo

Unknown said...

the infamous cupasnow story...like it! has nadirshaw seen it?

have you ever noticed how weird the word verification words below are? the one i am looking at now is 'unsuvule'. Who generates them i wonder?

Anya said...

Love your story :-)
We have also soooo many snow !!
To many for our country ;)

Have a wonderful evening
Kareltje =^.^=
Anya :-)

Jo said...

Aw.... What a lovely story. Grandfather probably felt terrible. :-)

Kitty Moore said...

That is a very sweet story.

Kitty x

Unknown said...

Love ya, and love your story too:)))

Ruth said...

Oh unique and wonderful.

Have you seen the film "Snow Cake." Please do, it's wonderful, one of my favorites.

Winter smells like sunlight refrigerated in earth.

Jeanne-ming Brantingham said...

oh my. how perfect. your new title, the story of snow, or love, of thirst...it all comes together.
beautiful post.

A Cuban In London said...

Oh, so innocent and cruel! What a great story. Many thanks. regards to your dad, too. :-)

Greetings from London.

Guusje said...

Charming!
Nice to meet you. I'll come back soon.
Guusje

Allison the Meep said...

Hi Shaista -

Thanks for sharing that great story. And thanks for stopping over by my blog to leave a sweet comment!

-Allison (the meep!)

Jeannette StG said...

Great story, Shaista. What ends we go to, to show our love:)

Samosas for One said...

Oh no! What a sweet story.

Crafty Green Poet said...

What a lovely story, and a bottle of snow such a romantic gift idea

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