Chapter 33

He shows me family memorabilia. Wedding photos first.
A Hindu wedding with Canada prominently on the edges. Ayounger him, a younger her. They went to Niagara Fallsfor their honeymoon¹. Had a lovely time. Smiles to prove it.
We move back in time. Photos from his student days atUofT: with friends; in front of St. Mike's; in his room;during Diwali on Gerrard Street; reading at St. Basil'sChurch dressed in a white gown; wearing another kind ofwhite gown in a lab of the zoology² department; ongraduation day. A smile every time, but his eyes tellanother story.
Photos from Brazil, with plenty of three-toed sloths³ in situ.
With a turn of a page we jump over the Pacific – andthere is next to nothing. He tells me that the camera didclick regularly – on all the usual important occasions – buteverything was lost. What little there is consists of whatwas assembled by Mamaji and mailed over after the events.
There is a photo taken at the zoo during the visit of aV.I.P. In black and white another world is revealed to me.
The photo is crowded with people. A union cabinet ministeris the focus of attention. There's a giraffe in thebackground. Near the edge of the group, I recognize ayounger Mr. Adirubasamy.
"Mamaji?" I ask, pointing.
"Yes," he says.
There's a man next to the minister, with hornrimmedglasses and hair very cleanly combed. He looks like aplausible Mr. Patel, face rounder than his sons.
"Is this your father?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "I don't know who that is."There's a pause of a few seconds. He says, "It's myfather who took the picture."On the same page there's another group shot, mostly ofschoolchildren. He taps the photo.
"That's Richard Parker," he says.
I'm amazed. I look closely, trying to extract personalityfrom appearance. Unfortunately, it's black and white againand a little out of focus. A photo taken in better days,casually. Richard Parker is looking away. He doesn't evenrealize that his picture is being taken.
The opposing page is entirely⁴ taken up by a colour photoof the swimming pool of the Aurobindo Ashram. It's a nicebig outdoor pool with clear, sparkling water, a clean bluebottom and an attached diving pool.
The next page features a photo of the front gate of PetitSeminaire school. An arch has the school's motto painted onit: Nil⁵ magnum nisi bonum. No greatness without goodness.
And that's it. An entire childhood memorialized in fournearly irrelevant⁶ photographs.
He grows sombre. "The worst of it," he says, "is that Ican hardlyremember what my mother looks like any more. I cansee her in my mind, but it's fleeting⁷. As soon as I try tohave a good look at her, she fades. It's the same with hervoice. If I saw her again in the street, it would all comeback. But that's not likely to happen. It's very sad not toremember what your mother looks like." He closes the book.

1 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

2 zoology   

n.动物学，生态

参考例句：

• I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
• The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。

3 sloths   

懒散( sloth的名词复数 )； 懒惰； 树獭； （经济）停滞。

参考例句：

• Mummies of pleistocene ground sloths, with original skin, hair, tendons and claws have been found. 还发现了保存原有皮肤，毛发，腱和爪的更新世时期地面树懒的木乃伊。
• He was inspired by fossils of armadillos and sloths. 犰狳和树懒化石让他获得了灵感。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 nil   

n.无，全无，零

参考例句：

• My knowledge of the subject is practically nil.我在这方面的知识几乎等于零。
• Their legal rights are virtually nil.他们实际上毫无法律权利。

6 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

7 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。