How far is heaven?

I have a mug that I have been using for the last 8.5 years. It has a picture of a mommy elephant and daddy elephant waving bye to their baby elephant. Amma Appa packed a household for me in two suitcases when I came first to America. Among a whole clutter of those things that i brought along to build my life here, was this mug. It is my most favourite mug. I would not trade it for all the fancy mugs in the world.

Its amazing how sentiment can elevate the value of things that seem so mundane. It sits there among other things and if you didn't know better you would call it junk.

Today, I was offered a Laddoo. Not just a laddoo, a Maa(v)Laddoo. My favourite-est thing ever. As it melted in my mouth, the familiarity of the taste, opened a floodgate of memories. My eyes stung as I fought a tear back, pushed the gates shut, pulled out a smile and said "Yummy laddoos aunty".

"For Ka, heaven was the place you kept your memories...summer holidays of his childhood,the days he skipped out of school, the times he and his sister and gone into their parent's bed, various drawings he had done as a child, and the time he had gone on a date with a girl he met at a school part and dared to kiss her." - from Snow (Orhan Pamuk)