Off to Dadu's: Carefree Childhood Memories with Grandparents, Relatives, and Nature

By Balaka B Ghosal

Off to Dadu's is a lyrical montage of happy images from the days of simplicity, when life was less cluttered with technology and its over-stimulation with constant entertainment. It's a string of memories from the era when life flowed with the rhythm of nature.

 

The book reflects on human relationships nurture

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Green Writer
• Release date: Apr 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781736386736

Balaka B Ghosal

Balaka has been a journalist, college lecturer, researcher, and special-ed content mastery teacher, 5th-grade teacher for at-risk students before becoming a full-time writer.She's a former public school teacher and a published children's author. Balaka used to organize environment day camps during summer, Earth Days, and green birthday parties and play dates for children between 6 and 16 years under the name of Greenologics. She taught at the Recipe For Success Foundation for a year, teaching cooking and gardening to young students in an afterschool program. Balaka is also an author in India in the Bengali language--four of her books were published by the renowned Ananda Publishers, one of them being the shorter version of Off to Dadu's.Passionate about environmental sustainability, Balaka writes for "green" companies. She reaches out through her social media about living close to nature, showcasing her simple waste-free lifestyle, and upholding alternative energy and technology. She believes that modern innovative thinking has the potential to rescue the environment by shaping a circular economy that doesn't depend on virgin resources. She likes working at the grassroots and has designed an entire outreach program for children to raise awareness around water. It's the AquaSmart program (about to launch) complete with graphic books, games, activities, math story problems, readers' theaters, and poetry. During her work time, she takes a breather, through ghostwriting memoirs and nonfiction books. Balaka's forte is her endless reservoir of stories and a dollop of humor which she uses in her freewheeling posts, articles, and videos in both English and Bengali.

Book preview

Off to Dadu’s

Carefree Childhood Memories with Grandparents, Relatives, and Nature

By

Balaka B. Ghosal

Off to Dadu’s

Carefree Childhood Memories with Grandparents, Relatives, and Nature

First Edition

Copyright ©2021 by Balaka B. Ghosal

All Rights Reserved.

This is a memoir. The moments described are not ascribed any particular date and time and they merely reflect the emotional interpretation of the author. The names and characters in the book are real but without any historical reference to dates and without any intention to malign or hurt any sentiments.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author. For information, please email [e-mail].

Cover design and illustrations for the book have been composed by the author herself. A few photographs have been added with permission from family members who were willing to share them here.

ISBN 978-1-7363867-3-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021925232

Dedication

With love to those special people—

my grandparents, Dadu and Didima —

whose wishes and efforts,

and some deep, intuitive treasures

they hid in their hearts,

made so much of peace

a possibility for all of us.

And to Babua,

our forever-caring, kindly cousin brother

who always added joy without judgement—

and yet had to make a sudden exit

in the pandemic,

without a goodbye.

His life, well spent with our grandparents,

imbued the spirit of giving

with an inimical, never-fading smile

through his short 50 years.

*****

Reviews

Off To Dadu's, was a delightful journey of time and space, enticing all the senses and imagination with rich, vivid descriptions of a child's sweetest, fondest memories growing up in India. The culture, family values, reverence for life, all instilled and finding their way into the writer's consciousness of how they shaped her are beautifully interwoven in the telling of this little slice of heaven.

—Esperanza Smith, Holistic Healer & Educator, Executive Director and Founder of PureEsperanza, NFP (pureesperanza.org), Chicago, IL, USA.

It is very relatable as I also had nearly the same kind of childhood visiting grandparents during every summer vacation. The book portrays our culture, our countryside, the food, being submissive yet having the urge to explore, not confined to bookish knowledge, family bonding through music and food—very detailed writing, explaining every aspect indicating a very happy childhood. The book has a beautiful message that kids of this generation could learn from.

—Ruma Chakraborty, Senior Customer Service Specialist (Retd.), Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Balaka Ghosal shines again, taking us back to our childhood days. At this time and age when families are torn apart by COVID, politics, and internal wrangling, Balaka, in her own free flowing style, takes us back to a world when family meant support, laughter, kindness, caring and sharing. A book for all ages to enjoy and share.

—Dr. Mousumi De, PA-C, MBBS, MPhil, DMSc, BSA Hospital, Amarillo, TX, USA.

Balaka Ghosal, you have written an extraordinary book! In all the books I’ve read, I don’t think I’ve ever come across one written entirely in free verse…and it fits perfectly with the story! Your memories of visiting your grandparents reminded me of similar trips I’d made to my grandparents when I was young. Your stories are pure joy, especially when you talk about your relatives, young and old. Your descriptions were so detailed I could easily see myself in your scenes even though I’ve never been to India. I loved your drawings also, done with a wonderful humorous