The Dawn of a New Legacy - Ammini & Ramchandra - Part 6 - The Chronicles of the Youngest Child

 

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Ammini was now used to her life at the Military grounds in Colaba. It was now about 6 months since she was living in the tiny quarters that were assigned to her husband Ramchandra and that she had come to live in, in Bombay. They lived in the house with Ramchandra's mother Devaki Devi and his younger sister Subadhra. Adjusting to the small space had been difficult for a few days for everyone, but once the routine set in, they were all happy and had established their own rhythm.

Ammini's mother-in-law had insisted that the inner room was for the newly married couple. Devaki Devi was wise enough to know that however close they all were with each other and however nice the relationship between her and her daughter-in-law was, the young couple needed their privacy and space to get to know each other too. After all, complaining about life and sorting things out was something she remembered doing well with her husband Govinda too. Those were moments she remembered most fondly, the end of the day conversations, the understanding nods and grunts her husband made because he just wanted to doze off to sleep. She smiled as she remembered that sometimes he didn't even pay attention to what she was saying. Such is a long life with a husband, she thought as she fell asleep in the front room of the quarters.

Just on the other side of the wall, Ammini settled down in bed next to her husband. She could only sleep for a few hours lying down as her childhood asthma had not left her body. Working in the cloth mills had weakened her system very quickly and she had had to stop going to work because of her deteriorating health. She remembered how she'd felt inadequate having to stop going to the mill as working and earning some money had given her some confidence. But, that was also taken away quickly because of her health. 'No schooling, no work, no probable future, no husband' , she found her old negative thoughts pass through her head a couple of times and then felt Ramchandra hold her in a warm embrace. He asked her if she'd had a good day. Her thoughts got called back to the present and she quickly reminded herself that she was being silly. Her husband was right next to her and her fortunes had changed. She promised herself to try and lie down for as long as she could possibly manage. This way she was held by her husband and she wanted to milk every moment of being cherished and belonging that she loved. She wasn't fond of being held tight because her breath felt constricted but just with her husband, her heart led the way. There was no logical reasoning why she didn't feel breathless when he held her. So, she stopped trying to understand and just enjoyed the feeling. However, she also knew that eventually she would have to wake up and sit down for some time because lying down made her unable to breathe properly after a few hours. This was something which just seemed to get worse with time. 

Anyway, she had other things to focus on. It had been a month and more since she had had her periods and she was already busy having conversations with the baby in her tummy. Now it was high time to reveal this to Ramchandra. She snuggled up to him and whispered that she had spent a lovely day thinking of what it would be like if they had a child. Ramchandra didn't seem to catch on, so she held his hand and placed it on her tummy. In the dim light of the room, with just the ceiling fan moving at a moderate pace, she heard Ramchandra breathe in deeply and breathe out a beautiful smile. He held her close and said "You will be the best Amma, my Ammini". Ammini giggled and then stopped because she hadn't heard herself giggle a lot before. She said "Oh" as if she was caught doing something wrong and then giggled again. They both found themselves laughing in the joy of the news. Ramchandra laughed seeing his wife in this euphoric state. He'd never seen her let go of her emotions as at this moment. Taking in the new sounds and the sensation in her body of all her senses coming alive, Ammini revelled in the moment. In their home, with her husband, loved by everyone in the next room, there was no doubt she would be a wonderful mother to the child to come. She found herself pressing Ramchandra's hands in hers.

They both continued to talk about how they would tell Devaki Devi the next morning. As the breeze from the little window cradled them to sleep, Ammini and Ramchandra both slept with dreams of their future miracle.

You can hear me read this story on Spotify and Apple on 'Lekha writes, then reads- Foundation' or on this link directly https://open.spotify.com/episode/6x2JzxvJjCr1KWRpw5y7YI?si=P7HTcVymSMykM9xhr3vCuQ

Like this story? Make sure to miss none of my stories and posts by 

You may like the five previous stories on my parents if you missed them or something completely different listed at the bottom of the page.

The day they met

 

How my Daddy met my Mummy - Ramchandra & Ammini - The Chronicles of the Youngest Child

Read the second story of their wedding day here

My parent's Guruvayoor wedding - Ramchandra & Ammini - Part 2- The Chronicles of the Youngest Child

Read the third of their travel back home

The Window seat to a New Destiny - Ramchandra & Ammini - Part 3- The Chronicles of the Youngest Child

Read about how Ammini settles in 

A Morning of Gentle Blessings - Ramchandra & Ammini - Part 4 - The Chronicles of the Youngest Child

Read about my mother's first big journey to Bombay in 1963

Tracks to Tomorrow - Ammini's Maiden Voyage to Bombay - Ramchandra & Ammini - Part 5- The Chronicles of the Youngest Child

Or this story of a real person 

Home is where the heart is - The Immigration Series - Bill Williams

Sceneries, Shuttles, Spokes and Streets - Nimesh Chand's Obsessive Pursuit of Motion

Recently, I started walking more often and more regularly again. I had had some minor injuries over the last year and so I had to really wait till my injuries were completely healed. One day I did a long walk of 18 kms and seeing this on my status, one of my friends in India reached out to me. This friend is Nimesh. Nimesh then revealed to me that he walked a lot daily as well. When I asked him what's a lot, he mentioned that 30,000 steps is his minimum a day! And some days, that can go upto 50,000 steps.

I then realised that I write about so many people I don't know, but here's someone close to home and I had no idea about this obsession of his. The thing is we meet and know people in some context and most often than not, that becomes our 'hang out' zone with the person. In any case, I have to admit that I didn't know that Nimesh Chand did so many different physical activities. We set up a call and I asked him where it all started.

The Walking Obsession 

Nimesh mentioned that in 2018, his friend and he started walking with Goqii. It's an organisation that deals with Fitness products of all kinds and in the Pre-COVID era they were organising trail walks of 50 kms and 100 kms. The company has its headquarters in Chembur, Mumbai, but the walks took place in Mandangad in Raigad district, Maharashtra in mountainous terrain. The company deals in apps, online products. But, in 2018, he and his friend decided to do the 50 kms walk and they paid the Rs.10,000/- fee for it. They obviously made it a point to practice regularly to be able to achieve the goal on D-day. This race had a 10-15 kms flat stretch and about 35 kms of pure mountains with 3-4 rivers to cross. The ambulances were on standby and there were 6 checkpoints on the route. The first two checkpoints had juices, electrolytes, and bananas. Lunch break was organised and it turned out to be a unique experience as Goqii had a tie up with the villages that were on the way. They provided delicious vegetarian food. Nimesh remembers that the race started at 5 am and there were about 190 participants amongst whom were people from India and also from around the globe. He met people from Singapore, Canada and also some Indian Army soldiers. Other than the soldiers, the participants included doctors, engineers and businessmen. He practiced again and he and his friend did the 50 kms again in 2019 after which COVID happened. In 2023, he participated again in the 50 kms walk. 

Unfortunately the last Trail challenge dates back to 2023. But I want to show you how exciting it was for those who participated.

YouTube video https://youtu.be/bBiNUx13i1I

GOQii Trail Information https://goqii.com/gtc  

General fitness Today: 

Nimesh walks 5 days a week and was walking all the while I was on video call with him. The distance of his walks vary. One day he does a short walk of 1 hour. 2 days of the week is for weight training.  He also always climbs the stairs whether it's to climb the 14 floors to work or the 11 floors at home. Only one day or two a month, when he does the big grocery shopping, does Nimesh use the lift or elevator. He also does breathing exercises once a week. He has been working night shifts for several decades now and so he sleeps at 10 am and his cup of tea to wake up is at 6 pm in the evening. He participates in Cricket and Football tournaments at work. His peak playing days were in 1995, adds Nimesh. What got me totally gobsmacked was when Nimesh spoke about the fact that he had walked from Churchgate to Thane, a distance of 60 plus kilometres in under 12 hours. Not once, but three times. Truly remarkable feats!

 

Marathon Running: 

From 2008 to 2014, Nimesh used to train regularly and  run several marathons including the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and others in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi averaging at about 7-8 Full Marathons every year. He was also a State level Badminton player back then.  

Ankle Injury:

Unfortunately in 2014, Nimesh suffered a very serious ankle injury and could not even walk a step. He had an operation the same year where the only solution was stem cell operation - where material from a new born baby's umbilical cord is used for reconstruction. I had heard of this before and have actually donated my daughters' umbilical cords to the hospital when they were born. But it's the first time I heard of this being actually used on someone I know. Nimesh then underwent a six month recovery period. After this, the doctors forbade Nimesh from running or playing badminton ever again.

Cycling:

So it was in 2015 that Nimesh started cycling. By now you can see that if he does something, he does it well. He started with 10 km rides and progressed to 100 km rides. He is now on his third bike, the 'Format Convexa, which is a road bike. He has participated in several biking championships in the Thane District. In 2016, he did a 120 kms ride, in 2017 and 2018, he did 150 kms. He also still likes to take solo trips from Thane to Shirdi, which one way is 290 kms. He also mentions that during COVID he loved cycling on the empty roads and allowed himself the luxury of long trips in those times.

Discipline and Lifestyle:

Despite his rigorous lifestyle, I was happy to hear that he's had his moments too. Nimesh spoke of how he had put on a lot of weight and had reached 110 kgs after his injury. He then lost weight on his own and went down to 74kgs which is also his current weight. 

As far as I remember Nimesh has always lived alone. In India, it's now common for some people to live alone in the cities but Nimesh has been on his own for decades. I ask him if he likes it or is lonely ever? Nimesh says he loves the freedom of living on his own. He says 'Enjoy your life, pick up one or two hobbies and you have no space for loneliness.' Reading, sleeping, relaxing and watching TV are some of the things he likes to do when he's at home and not on his feet, literally.

Nimesh is someone focused, disciplined and ambitious. His passions play a huge part in keeping him happy and serene. We may not do what he does, but we can at least take baby steps in that direction and dedicate ourselves to loving and reclaiming ourselves daily.

You can listen to me read this article in my podcast on Apple or Spotify called 'Movement - Lekha Warrior Writes' or by directly clicking this link.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lG7khy3BZY9zTRkH0yFHl?si=xBe2oKtgSKinYNy6wB-YYw

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From Brussels to Bharatanatyam- Eric Rozen -Three decades of Indian Classical dance in Belgium

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Urban Walk Brussels 7th Dec 2025 - Johan De Vits - #urbanwalk #walkingtours

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Dharmendra Sachan - cycling away to his achievements with a 'Brevets Randonneurs Mondiaux' for 200kms

From Brussels to Bharatanatyam- Eric Rozen -Three decades of Indian Classical dance in Belgium

Eric Rozen 

   

  

In class

   

class Palais du Midi

     

Strange though it may sound, I learnt the basics of the South Indian traditional dance form of Bharatnatyam from a White, Caucasian male in Belgium. Eric Rozen, my Bharatanatyam teacher, has been running the Nadabrahma school since 2000. He's also been a Yoga teacher for an equal if not more amount of years. Just as crazy is the fact that he himself learnt Bharatanatyam from his first guru Jetty Roels who used to run classes for students interested in India and Indian arts in Brussels in the 1990s.

I met him in 2012-13 when I was searching for an Indian dance class for my girls. I found Eric on the internet and contacted him. When I went for a class, I realised that most of Eric's students were adults and so I decided to attend the class with my children. Every Saturday or Sunday we had a routine to go to class. For me, it was a childhood dream coming true and for my children, I hoped it would connect them to their Indian roots and culture. Attending a class filled with people of different nationalities who'd all been attending class for years with Eric definitely gave us the impression of his professionalism and depth of knowledge. 

By 2019, my children had grown up enough to know what they wanted to pursue in terms of their passions. They chose to discontinue the classes and I respected their decisions. When COVID hit, I didn't continue the online classes either. Now, several years later in 2026, I'm back to learning with Eric. This time, I'm also a busy blogger and have by now featured several different sports on my site.  Just like these sporting activities, I realised that classical dance involves discipline, consistency and strength, all qualities that I absolutely love. This is what made me ask Eric to tell me the story of how his passion for Bharatanatyam started. 

early days in India

    

Eric's journey to self discovery began when as a child he was sent for Judo classes by his parents. His sister, on the other hand, was sent to learn western classical dance. The siblings soon realised that Eric wanted to dance and his sister wanted to do Judo and without telling their parents they interchanged classes. Obviously, their parents caught on to this at some point, but it was too late to change anything. Eric finally became a dance teacher and his sister a Black Belt in Judo. The road to dance wasn't easy for Eric as his parents were very opposed to the idea. But Eric persisted and learned both classical and contemporary western dance.

His interlude with India first happened at the age of 12 when his neighbours did a road trip in a caravan with their children, all the way from Belgium to India. Their goal was to travel for a year and have as much time as possible in India. From this trip the neighbours brought back several objects that came from India and those included things that Eric remembers like a Nataraja statue and music discs & cassettes. Eric remembers seeing these objects and listening to all the stories the neighbours told him and his family about this country they'd reached after crossing Europe, Iran and Afghanistan.

His next strong anchoring point came from watching the Merchant Ivory film 'Heat & Dust', which portrays a British woman who finds her grandmother's diary which contains extracts and snippets describing the grandmother's life in British India. The grand daughter then wants to relive these memories by visiting India herself. This movie was made in 1983 and includes the Indian film star Shashi Kapoor and a very young Zakir Hussain. The movie made Eric even more curious and build a strong yearning to discover India as soon as he could.

     

Shiva Statue

This dream came true when Eric travelled to Ladakh for the first time for a trekking trip. He recalls landing at the Delhi airport and taking a bus immediately to set out and find a Nataraja, the dancing Shiva statue for himself. It was almost like he was possessed with an urgency to have his own statue, having seen the one his neighbours had brought back many years ago. Obviously, because he was both eager and naive, he got royally fleeced and paid much more than he should have. On top of that, the statue was made in bronze and weighed 5 kgs. And all he had was his backpack. He ended up trekking with with the statue on his back for 28 days to about 5200 feet. He remembers thinking how he would not consider finding a safe place to leave the statue while he continued on the trek. At points he felt that he would die on the trek because of the weight. But finally the statue became symbolic as dance and particularly Indian dance would fuel him for the rest of his life. The weight of that statue and his willingness to carry it perhaps created this space in Eric's life. He laughs and says that when the trip ended and the group and him headed to a local market in Delhi, he saw thousands of the same statue in all shapes and sizes lined up for sale at a fraction of the cost he had paid. He maintains that that one statue was the one for him and had found him just as in it he found his life's purpose in return.

      

Eric and Monica Kunz (in red)

Monica Kunz

Monica Kunz teaching with Eric in Brussels

The next step was when he started attending Jetty Roels' Bharatanatyam classes in Belgium. He got hooked onto both that dance style and Carnatic music. He studied under her for about 2-3 years. He then travelled to Kerala, India once on his own and once with two friends. This visit was another stepping stone for Eric into this culture, country and sub continent that was slowly becoming more and more familiar. Jetty stopped her classes after Eric learned for about 8 years with her. He then went on to discover Monica Kunz, who was also teaching in Brussels by then.

class meeting Monica Kunz

Eric in class

At the Rotonde, Woluwe

Group of students in the dressing room at the Rotonde, Woluwe for an event 

Eric and his students

Eric attending an Indiraga, Belgium event

Monica Kunz played a significant role in the next stage of Eric’s journey, enabling him to deepen his understanding of both Bharatanatyam and Indian culture. She also served as a vital link between his training in Belgium and his meeting with Nirupama Rajendra—an encounter that would mark a new milestone in his relationship with Indian dance. Nirupama has had several gurus in both Bharatanatyam and Kathak, as she performs both styles alongside her husband, Rajendra. Passionate about *karanas*and the work of Padma Subramanyan, Nirupama became a disciple of this remarkable individual.

Eric and his students at Nirupama Rajendra's school

With Nirupama & Rajendra (couple, first row)

  

Nirupama Rajendra is the disciple of the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan awardee Padma Subrahmanyan, read more in detail about her on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padma_Subrahmanyam, who did her PhD in Dance based on the reconstruction of the 108 karanas, which are dance movements described in the Natyasastra.

Padma Subrahmanyam was a student of Kalakshetra. Kalakshetra was started by Rukmini Devi who followed the very strict style of linear and geometric precision in Bharatantayam. Read about her here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rukmini_Devi_Arundale

Nirupama Rajendra teaching with Eric in Brussels

Nirupama Rajendra herself has several awards to her name since she started dancing. She started including the karanas in her style of dancing in the 2000s. Eric visited her school in Bengaluru every year from 2008-2015, with his own students from Brussels. Read about Nirupama Rajendra here  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirupama_Rajendra

  

       

Eric's students performed to welcome Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in 2016 in Heysel, Palais 12

On stage and Live TV in front of 3000 people

  

The students who danced in the function for PM Narendra Modi

Eric's knowledge of Indian mythology came as much from reading Amar Chitra Katha comics as from what he learnt from Monica Kunz and Nirupama Rajendra. He feels that Indian dance, in this case, Bharatanatyam brings everything from the past and the history of humanity to the stage and also transcends into what is more than human, the mystical, the spiritual, the symbolic. He found his forever passion that he hopes to continue to teach to several generations in the years ahead.

The performance at Bozar, Brussels

Listening to the man makes me realise how proud I am of what the dance symbolises. Discipline and hard work from dancers from all over the world, all trying to decode something complex, unknown, alien and difficult. I realised that some of the best dancers of the class were the most humble and whether we are beginner or intermediate, we're welcomed with the same respect and love by our teacher Eric.

On a side note, Eric became vegetarian in the 1990s around the time he met Monica Kunz. From 2015 he turned vegan and in 2017, spent a lot of time on activism for 'Anonymous for the Voiceless'. https://www.anonymousforthevoiceless.org/

You can contact Eric Rozen

 Email: bharatanatyam@mac.com

Site: https://nadabrahma.be/

These sites could be of your interest Monica Kunz's site:- constelfam.com

Nirupama Rajendra’s website:- https://www.abhinava.dance/

Kalakshetra foundation :- https://kalakshetra.in/

Padma Bhushan award :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padma_Bhushan

Padma Vibhushan award :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padma_Vibhushan

Amar Chitra Katha comics and books :- https://www.amarchitrakatha.com

Know more about Shashi Kapoor who was part of the Kapoor family, one of the biggest families in Bollywood today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapoor_family

Know more about Ustad Zakir Hussain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakir_Hussain_(musician)

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You may like to read about other Belgians I have written about here 

Discovering India to discovering herself - Carla Ide, language teacher, adventurer and traveller

or 

Climbing new heights - Tina De Vits- #Montventoux

or my early experience of living in Belgium

Life in Belgium as a foreigner - No More Secrets!

or a fiction that's related to my childhood

How my Daddy met my Mummy - Ramchandra & Ammini - The Chronicles of the Youngest Child

or a fiction I wrote recently

A Promise in the Net - Short story - fiction

J'ai aussi des articles en français dans l'onglet 'French' et en NL sous 'Dutch'