The Wooden Box That Crossed the Hills

“The Wooden Box That Crossed the Hills” is a deeply personal memoir about Parvati, the narrator’s Nani, and the extraordinary life she lived across the hills and forests of Uttarakhand.

“Some things we inherit cannot be held in our hands; they live in the stories, struggles, and love that travel quietly from one generation to the next.”
– Abhilasha Joshi, Writer, www.Uttarakhandi.com

The story begins in 1999 at Nani’s house in Haldwani, where the narrator, as an eight-year-old child, spends long summer afternoons with cousins. The house is filled with familiar sights and sounds the mango, guava and amla trees, the cuckoo calling “Kafal pagoh,” the radio playing old songs, and the routines of a large family.

At the centre of the story is an old wooden box, kept locked in a corner near the kitchen. As a child, the narrator is fascinated by it. The key is tied to Nani’s sari, and whenever the box opens, it reveals laddoos, jaggery and amla murabba. Nani secretly gives these treats to the grandchildren and tells them not to tell the others. To the children, the box feels magical. As the narrator grows older, however, they understand that the box represented something much deeper: Parvati’s ability to manage limited resources, preserve food, and maintain order in an unpredictable life.

Parvati was born in 1924 in Bayala near Dwarahat. She never attended formal school but learned to read and write Hindi, arithmetic, and even how to read a kundali from her father. She married at just fifteen and became a mother at eighteen. The wooden box came with her when she left her childhood home, becoming one of the few constants in a life defined by movement.

Her husband later became a forest ranger, and the family moved repeatedly through remote forest postings. These were isolated places with little access to neighbours, irregular supplies, and dangers from leopards, bears and elephants. Parvati had to raise her children while her husband was frequently away on duty. She learned to adapt to whatever the forest and circumstances demanded.

One of the most dramatic memories in the story is when a bear attacks the family’s forest quarters at night. When the children are frightened, Parvati remains composed and prepares the gun while the bear pounds against the door. Eventually it disappears, leaving deep scratches in the wood. The experience becomes part of the family’s education in survival learning about animals, plants, rivers, forests and the dangers around them.

Parvati eventually has ten children, all born at home. One of the most powerful episodes takes place in Kapkot in February 1962, when heavy snow isolates the family for two days. Parvati is full-term and unable to reach medical help. With her daughters beside her, she gives birth to her ninth child, the narrator’s mother. Throughout those difficult days, the wooden box provides carefully rationed food and supplies for the family. It becomes almost an “Annapurna” a symbol of nourishment, protection and preparedness.

The story also shows Parvati’s extraordinary resourcefulness. With ten children, buying clothes became expensive, so her husband gives her a Usha sewing machine. Without anyone to teach her, she learns by taking apart old clothes and studying their seams. She eventually begins making clothes for the family herself. She also uses her knowledge of forest remedies and keeps a small medical kit ready.

Another important part of her life is the kitchen. Parvati is deeply traditional and follows strict rules of purity while cooking. At the same time, despite being vegetarian herself, she learns to cook meat for her husband, initially even covering her nose and mouth because the smell made her nauseous. Her kitchen becomes a place where discipline, tradition, sacrifice and care come together.

As the children grow up, the wooden box remains a constant presence. It helps manage food and scarcity, but it gradually becomes something more it becomes part of the family’s emotional life. During evenings, Parvati gathers the children around it, gives them small sweets and then tells them stories from mythology, village folklore and her experiences in the forests.

The family grows, children marry, expenses increase, and festivals bring everyone together. Holi, especially, becomes a celebration of Kumaoni culture, with baithaki holi, traditional songs, gujiyas, thandai and family gatherings. Parvati carries these traditions even during the isolated forest postings, bringing together forest staff and their families.

For the narrator and the other grandchildren, however, some of the most precious memories are much simpler: being secretly called over by Nani, watching her open the wooden box, and receiving a laddoo, piece of jaggery or slice of amla murabba. These small acts of affection become treasured memories of childhood.

In her later years, Parvati appears very different from the fearless woman who once lived in remote forests. The narrator remembers her as small, gentle, quiet and deeply affectionate, writing Ram Ram in her diary, sitting near the temple, watching television dramas and quietly shedding tears during emotional scenes. Yet beneath that gentleness remained the same woman who had survived forests, snow, isolation and scarcity.

In 2012, Parvati dies, and the wooden box is retired to an attic. It may now contain nothing important or perhaps old cloth and utensils. But the narrator realizes that its real contents can no longer be opened with a key. The box carries the memory of Parvati’s entire life: her journeys through the mountains, raising ten children, surviving difficult circumstances, preserving traditions, feeding her family, giving secret sweets to grandchildren, and telling stories that connected generations.

The heart of the story

Ultimately, the wooden box is not really about a box. It is a metaphor for Parvati herself.

“The box may have grown silent with time, but the love she placed inside it still speaks in every story remembered, every tradition carried forward, and every heart she touched.” – Abhilasha Joshi, Writer, www.Uttarakhandi.com

It represents how she stored, preserved, rationed, protected and gave food, resources, traditions, stories and love. Just as the box travelled with her from the hills to the forests and finally to Haldwani, Parvati carried her family, culture and resilience wherever life took her. The most beautiful idea in the story is that while the physical box has eventually become an old object in an attic, the life contained within it survives through memory and the next generation.