Since my boy was born, I have been asking my parents in law and my own parents about genealogical information, so that I can tell him about his ancestors later on. This morning my mother gave me a copy book in which an aunt of mine had once noted down some family lore told to her by my father’s maternal grandmother. Interesting catch. I notably learned that the sister of the mother of my father’s maternal grandmother had left the family because of quarrels with her sister in law and eventually became the mistress of a white man. She had three children, two daughters and a son. One of the girls became a catholic nun in a convent near Port Louis and she recently died ( I’ve been trying this afternnon to figure out which convent this could be).

A catholic nun ! I eagerly placed her image in my imaginary family photo album next to:

(i) the hindu mystic ( a cousin of my great grand father) who started the annual pilgrimage to Grand Bassin, for Maha Shivratree, having declared Grand Bassin to be linked to Ganga.

(ii) the kung fu master ( a brother of my wife’s paternal grand father) who fled the family home in Beijing, and after some time roaming in China, took up the study of kung fu, and eventually wrote a popular treatise on one of its styles. He used to tell my father in law to drop school and become his student. I heard a Chinese television station has made a documentary on him in recent years.

Another interesting peace of information I gathered is that my paternal grand father, who took up the profession of tailor at the age of 14, became attached, at one point, to a natak group, whose clothes he stitched and mended. What is interesting about this is that my father in law’s grandfather’s grandfather ran an embroidery shop specialised in costumes for Qing dynasty officials and Beijing opera actors. That was way back in 19th century Beijing. Two tailors – for – comedians in the family, O Cosmic Convergence.