Day 2 - 72 Hours in Sumi and KC's Lives
72 Hours in Sumi and KC's Lives
By Jitu and Raksha Modi
Tuesday, June 23, 2024
Lizzy, Sumi’s morning caregiver, comes around 9:50 am every day and helps Sumi out of bed for shower, dressing, grooming and feeding.
Lizzy starting her routine with a huge smile!
Lizzy feeding Sumi her smoothie.
As we all know how meticulous KC is... he has the exact measurements for the smoothie and Sumi’s morning and evening meals!
The daily morning meal consists of:
Cooked vegetables made into small balls (ladoos) with one crushed roti
One small apple
One boiled egg
20 oz smoothie (Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Beets, Cucumbers, Honey and Ginger) crushed.
For breakfast, we had upma and masala chai.
Lizzy prepares 14 fresh vegetables plates the whole week! Sumi has two plates per day. One at 2:00 pm and the other at 5:30 pm.
They contain:
Bell Peppers
Carrots
Radishes
Cherry tomatoes
Hummus
Cheese
Even though it is the same food Sumi enjoys it and I had the pleasure of feeding her too!
For lunch, we had Pani puri.
KC makes excellent Pani for Pani puri and to the exact science!
Enjoyed it…. anther beautiful day on the porch!
In the evening, we went to the Rochester Park nearby and walked around!
Photo by river in the park.
KC helping Sumi get out of the bed in the evening.
In the evening, after Sumi’s feeding and toileting (which happens around 6:00 pm everyday), Sumi rests in her bed for 30 minutes or so.
KC helping Sumi walk in the living room.
Reminiscing: Late into the night….
Before the days of WhatsApp, text messaging, emails, internet and the fax machines, we used to correspond with family and friends by writing long-handed letters.
KC has saved his correspondence with friends and family from the very first day he arrived in the US. He has meticulously catalogued them in the chronological order in 3-ring binders for ease of perusing through them.
In the second evening, after Sumi was in her bed, we settled down on a couch in the living room. KC pulled out one 3-ring binder with letters received by him starting from September 1970. He made me read letters written to him by Jitu (as Jitu was not able to recognize his own hand writing to read fluently).
While reading Jitu’s letters, one part that touched me the most was when Jitu had asked KC to get him shirts from Hong Kong. (KC ‘s route to Berkeley was Mumbai, Hong Kong, Tokyo). I knew while growing up Jitu did not afford good shirts and fancy whims and now it has turned into an obsession with shirts, hats and shoes. When I read about shirt from Hong Kong, I realized how far back his thirst for good apparel went and I teared up. (you can read Jitu request for a shirt from Hong Kong in the last line of his letter dated Oct 3, 1970 below).
In another letter, Jitu had asked KC to bring Madhubala’s pictures. While I was reading about Madhubala, KC got up, went into the basement and brought a 28” x 40” poster of Madhubala. He fulfilled Jitu’s wish after 54 years!
KC also gave us an iconic poster of Raj Kapoor and Nargis from the movie Shree 420 (a song picturized on them…Pyar Hua ikraar Hua…) KC packed it in a tube and we brought home both posters with us and we will be hanging it in our basement!
Thanks KC, for the wonderful evening reminiscing. And your beautiful thoughts and gifts to fulfill Jitu’s wishes!