Our Greeting Cards, 1972 - 1990
Robert Tyabji, Sana'a, 1990
As we moved from country to country on my UNICEF postings, we found that printing our own greeting cards was a great way to keep in touch with family and friends around the world while commemorating the highlights of our life as a family. Our first was a 1972 Christmas card commemorating our marriage the previous year, and the last was a 2000 Christmas card to commemorate Adil's graduation in industrial design. Here's a snapshot view of our cards between those years.
The cards included a quotation or poem for the occasion, see below:
1972: On the occasion of our marriage in December 1971.
This is a card for special people,
For people we like and know,
This is a card that keeps the flame
Of Xmas cheer aglow.
This is a card that is filled with light
And happiness; if we may,
We’d like to share with you, and you,
This merry Christmas day.
This is a card we hope will bring
The joys of life and living
The peace and goodwill of Xmas time
The joy one gets by giving.
This is a card that is packed with smiles
We hope they express to you
The love of life we feel and share,
On Xmas and all the year through.
Robert & Hootoksi Tyabji.
1973: Featuring Michel who arrived in December 1972
Every child comes with the message…That God is not yet discouraged by Man - Rabindranath Tagore
1974: With Farhad who arrived in May 1975
We live in this world when we love it – Rabindranath Tagore
1975: With Michel and Farhad in Tilonia
When we rejoice in our fullness, then we can part with our fruits with joy – Rabindranath Tagore
1976: With Michel and Farhad on the grass, in New Delhi
Tiny grass – your steps are small, but wou possess the earth under your tread – Rabindranath Tagore
1977 Michel, Farhad and Akbar, in New Delhi
God grows weary of great Kingdoms, but never of Little Flowers - – Rabindranath Tagore
1978: Michel and Farhad hand in hand, in New Delhi
Do not linger to gather flowers to keep them, but walk on, for flowers will keep themselves blooming all your way – Rabindranath Tagore
1979: With Adil who was born in October, 1978
He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open – Rabindranath Tagore
1980: We moved to Thimphu, Bhutan, in December 1980
The hills are like shouts of children who raise their arms trying to catch stars - – Rabindranath Tagore
1981: Michel, Farhad and Adil with Tashichhodzong in the background
Man is born child, his power is the power of growth - – Rabindranath Tagore
1982: Michel, Farhad and Adil in the Bhutan mountains
O Troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words
1983: Michel, Farhad, Adil with our dogs and ducks, in Thimphu
Lead me in the centre of thy silence to fill my heart with song - – Rabindranath Tagore
1985: We returned to New Delhi
Beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror – Rabindranath Tagore
1986: In Mogadishu, Somalia, where Akbar breathed his last
If there is another world, he lives in bliss;If there is none, he made the best of this - Robert Burns
1987: Visiting Dadima and Grandpa in Sydney, Australia
Love is life in its fullness like the cup with its wine - – Rabindranath Tagore
1988: We moved to Sana’a, Yemen Arab Republic
When the little rays of light in our mind are focused, our mind becomes like a searchlight and reveals truth – Swami Parmananda
1989: Sana’a, Yemen
The smile that you send out, returns to you - Indian wisdom
1989: Vacation in Zimbabwe
What lies behind us
And what lies before us
Are tiny matters compared
To what lies within u- Emerson
1990: Visiting Turkey
Lord make me an instrument of thy peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love… St. Francis of Assisi
1991: Visiting Kershasp Mamoo in upstate New York
Life without mirth is a lamp without oil - Sir Walter Scott
1992: Sana’a, Yemen
Let us overcome the angry man with gentleness,
The evil man with goodness,
The miser with generosity,
The liar with truth
-Mahabharatam
1993: Choeki passes on
Life is eternal;
And love is immortal;
And death is only a horizon;
And a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight
-R.W. Raymond
1994, Sydney: My father, Amin Mohsin Tyabji, passes on
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
Courage to change the things I can.
And wisdom to know the difference.
Dr. Reinhold Neibuhr
1995: Visiting Cape Town
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere
-Martin Luther King
1996: In Tanzania, our home since 1994
The day you cease to travel, you will have arrived - Japanese wisdom
1997: American University, San Diego
Farhad’s Graduation: Highlight of Our Year
1998: Michel and Rosa marry, upstate New York (card missing)
1999: Farhad and Julia marry, Seattle
That love is all there is, Is all we know of love – Dickinson
2000: Adil earns his Bachelor’s in Industrial Design, Loughborough University, UK
A diamond is a stone until endowed with value by the human mind