The Irony of Happiest
Brierly recounts, "That was in our first house, where I was born, which we shared with another Hindu family…It was very simple but certainly now chawl-those warrens of slums where the unfortunate families of the megacities like Mumbai and Delhi find themselves living. Despite the closeness of the quarters, we all got along. My memories of that time are some of my happiest." The situation in the slum is disheartening due to the extreme poverty that plagues the inhabitants. Nevertheless, the love and communal bonds in the slum elicit unforgettable happiness in Brierly's life. Accordingly, individuals who reside in poverty and lowly areas such as slums are not extremely unhappy. Their joy is not grounded on material possessions only.
“He wanted to rid us”
Brierly explains, "When my father did live with us, he could be violent, taking his frustrations out on us. Of course, we were helpless- a lone woman and four small children. Even after he moved out, he wanted to rid of us altogether. At the insistence of his new wife, he even tried to force us to leave the area." Brierly's father subjects them to mistreatment that would not be expected from a father. He treats them like his enemies yet they are his biological children. The ironic behavior surmises that not all fathers love their children unconditionally.
The Irony of “Beget”
Brierly recounts, “Mum remembers a time when I was seven, when out of the blue I got very distressed and cried out, ‘Me begot!’ Later, she found out I was upset that I had forgotten the way to the school near my Indian home, where I used to walk to watch the students. We agreed then that it probably didn’t matter anymore... My memories were all I had of my past, and privately I thought about them over and over, trying to ensure I didn’t ‘beget’.” Although Brierly consciously acknowledges that his forgetting his way is immaterial, unconsciously,it is material to him. He ensures that the memories do not die because he does not want to disremember his past. Brierly’s recollection of the moment he lost his way is a significant link to his past which he stores in his unconscious throughout his childhood to the moment he retraces his Biological family.
