tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637029.post4898883743006602941..comments2023-10-26T05:49:10.356-06:00Comments on Otowi: Monument Cemeteryotowihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11497228997910501944noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637029.post-69894248456484118782012-11-26T06:20:42.481-07:002012-11-26T06:20:42.481-07:00I relate to your feelings; most Americans our rela...I relate to your feelings; most Americans our relatives are all over the globe and we can only go back a generation or two. That is true for some parts of my family and I just have trying to take as far back whatever branches I can. I am sorry you cannot get to see some of these graves. Like you, I feel like part of me was with them on their journeys and that something important is lost when those connections and stories are lost.otowihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11497228997910501944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6637029.post-52052450441609117092012-11-25T22:37:04.705-07:002012-11-25T22:37:04.705-07:00Gratitude is maybe what makes you feel to remember...Gratitude is maybe what makes you feel to remember them. I have similar feelings. My great-great-great grand parents traveled across the Indian Subcontinent from Iran (back then Pakistan and India were not separate), and they were previously from the Arabian peninsula and had migrated from there (probably prosecuted being the progeny of Ahlulbayt - I happen to be a 'Syed'), and thinking that they carried me in them while traveling all this time connects me to them in a profound manner. I feel it is me who has traveled all these regions for so many years. There is some sort of gratitude that I find within me thinking of them. I find this verse very profound:<br />'Rabbir hamhuma kama rabbiyani sagheera', the verb "rabbiyani" (derived from the root "Rab" which is commonly used for God) being used for parents kind of strikes me big time.<br /><br />It is ironic that due to partition, I have never been able to visit my grandfathers' graves as they are on the other side of the border, not easily accessible. The graves I have in my city are fairly recent. I feel a part of me is torn when I realize I don't know about my great grandfathers much or haven't visited their graves, which is why I have been looking for family trees since the age of 8...<br /><br />We are a part of the human stream, and probably this realization urges us to know who came before us.Zainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18012947842961041452noreply@blogger.com