I REMEMBER MY LUCKY CHARM
Sana Karnawat
Integrative Seminar - Bridge 1 (Memoir): A Personal History in Objects Eric Dean Wilson September 12, 2017
Karnawat 2 I remember the day someone I love with all my heart gifted me a beautiful pair of pink earrings. Tiny, rosy, prismatic studs with a golden butterfly back, that brought the biggest
smile on my face the moment I saw them. In my eyes, they’re as charming as the Manhattan skyline when lit up. It’s been five years and I still smile to myself when I happen to look at these earrings. It is a generalization that all women like to be gifted expensive jewelry. But this pair wasn’t anything extravagant or lavish. Simply the fact that it was given to me by one of my favorite people, made it mean so much to me. I started wearing the studs every single day, without fail. Maybe it was psychological, but suddenly I could feel myself liking my days much more. I began treating the pair of pink earrings as my lucky charm. Childish and immature that I was, I felt that my luck would run out soon and decided that I would only put them on for special and important occasions. Right before my finals, presentations, performances, or anything that required me to give my best, I would ornate myself with the earrings. I was an obsessed teenage girl with a lot of attachment to my possessions. In fact, I think I still am. But I’m not embarrassed of it. My beliefs and faith have guided me to wherever I am today and I’m proud of that. I believe that the earrings signify my unconditional love. The fact that I keep them so carefully, conveys how much I care for the relationship with the person. Not just to anybody else, but to myself as well. A few months ago, my family and I went on a vacation to Croatia during summer. It was more of an adventure trip including skydiving, bungee jumping, etc. So yes, I was wearing the earrings. The day we had to leave Dubrovnik, our last stop, my family and I were running late for catching our flight. Standing on a pavement outside our hotel, I was given the duty of replacing the temporary Croatian SIM cards with our original Indian ones. Not seeing any pin
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nearby, I took out my earring in a rush and did the necessary. Almost immediately after, we sat in the car, reached the airport and boarded the flight. As I reached to wear the headphones inflight, I noticed an emptiness on my left year. It was gone. I had dropped it on the street. Panicking, I started checking through all my handbags even though I knew I had dropped it in the midst of all that chaos. I just refused to believe it. I was so upset, it took me a while to calm myself down. I even thought to myself, “How can I be so heartbroken over losing one simple earring stud?” But later, I quietened my mind and reminded myself that I still had the other one. It has been wisely said that, “The less attached you are, the more peaceful you are.” But was my attachment or passion for the earrings a bad thing? No, it could never be. I still keep the other earring with me. The earring is an avatar of true emotions. More than anything, it makes me ecstatic. It is a reminder of how blessed I am to have such a lovely person in my life. He may not be with me everywhere I go, but he is always a huge part of my heart. And I have this earring as the avatar of this connection. The few individuals close to my heart mean the world to me and this pair of earrings symbolizes all these meaningful relationships in some way. My experiences with this particular object made myself notice my feelings about these ties. Protecting and prizing the earrings meant doing the same to the particular relationship, at least in my mind. This possession may seem insignificant to the rest of the world, and I may not ever be able to completely describe its value for me. But this is an anecdote of my journey with this object, which I hope put forth my feelings for the earrings clearly.