Patichore Memories: The Jackal’s Wedding

How Rain and Stories Shape the Way We Love.

The first drops of rain always bring me back, to the scent of wet earth rising from our courtyard, the sizzle of my Phoppi Jan’s pakoras, and the sudden shimmer of sun through the downpour. It was on one such day, with the sky torn between sunshine and drizzle, that Dadi Jan leaned back against her cushion and smiled knowingly.

“Do you see that?” she said, her finger pointing to the strange shimmer of sunlight through rain. “آج تو لگتا ہےگیدڑ اور گیدڑنی کی شادی ہو رہی ہے!” (Ah… the jackals are getting married today.)

We erupted into laughter, crumbs of pakora scattering across the floor. “Jackals? Nunna, who marries jackals?”

Her eyes, lined with years and stories, twinkled. “They do, my loves. But not in plain sight. Only when the sun and rain meet, they hold their secret wedding. The forest animals gather in hiding, the raindrops dance with the sunlight, and the jackals… they sing their raspy songs of love.”

I remember how we sat quiet then, half believing, half imagining, jackals in garlands, tails swishing, rain falling like pearls on their backs.

Dadi Jan’s voice softened, turning the tale into a lesson:

“You see, life is just like that wedding. It is never only sunshine, and never only rain. The joy and sorrow, the mischief and the wisdom, all come together to make it whole. When you are young, you want only the sun. But when you are old, like me, you understand, the rain is part of the blessing too.”

I didn’t understand her fully then. But now, with years behind me, I hear the weight in her words. She was doing what Erik Erikson called living with integrity- looking back on her life, mistakes and triumphs alike, and finding meaning in the mixture. Not denying the hardships, not clinging to the past with bitterness, but holding it gently, as one holds a story passed from heart to heart.

Whenever it rains while the sun is still shining, I can’t help but pause. In that golden, rain-soaked light, I see my Dadi Jan again, sitting by the window with her pandan in her lap, her voice weaving magic as she told us how jackals find love under impossible skies.

It wasn’t just a story. It was her way of teaching us that life’s beauty doesn’t come from choosing sunshine over rain, but from holding both together, joy and sorrow, hope and loss; woven into one whole.

Why These Stories Still Matter

When my grandmother told me about jackals marrying in the rain, she wasn’t just passing time. She was giving me a language to hold contradictions: to laugh when things didn’t make sense, to marvel at life’s paradoxes.

And when I later learned about foxes marrying in the sunshowers of Korea (read it here) and Japan(you can read it here), I realized something profound: across cultures, across oceans, we humans have always turned to stories to explain what our hearts already know, that joy and sorrow are never separate. They walk together, hand in hand, under the same sky.

So the next time sunlight filters through the rain, pause. Listen closely. You might just hear the music of a wedding procession, whether of jackals or foxes and remember that your own life, too, is a dance of contradictions.

Reflection for You

Think back, what is your version of the “jackal’s wedding”? A childhood memory, a family story, or a ritual that held both laughter and longing?Sometimes, revisiting these small tales helps us connect with the deeper truths of our relationships today.