I am so busy chasing my tomorrows that I forgot to live today said the protagonist, in a recent movie I watched. I thought it was a typical Hollywood cliche. It has attained an increased significance of late.
This year, my wife, Jaya, lost her life long friend, Revathi. They were together since my wife was a toddler. I knew of her through my wife but did not have a good fortune to know Revathi more. A few years back she came to visit us and spent few days with us. During that visit that I had come to experience her personality, charisma and friendship. She was every bit as my wife would describe her, and a bit more. She was vivacious, charismatic, and her joie de vivre was aplenty. I have seldom seen someone who has enjoyed what life has to offer in such an uninhibited way, never let setbacks in life hinder her desire to live in the moment. She personified the apothegm “live life to the full today, you never know what tomorrow holds”. In that brief encounter with her, I have found a soul that is full of love, compassion and affection, that I regret not knowing her more, and sooner. I feel Revathi’s untimely death has created a void that will take a long time to fill, and I don’t know if Jaya will ever be able to fill that void. Jaya’s friend, nay my friend, is like that proverbial rainbow in the sky above the hills and valleys I call life. Here is an image that personifies Revathi.
Recently we lost another friend to cancer. He has been fighting the cancer, and his good fight has shown promising results where he succeeded in stopping the progression. Three of us friends were talking about going out to lunch with him when he is feeling up to it, to let him know that we are there for him unconditionally, or at the least enjoy a repast with a foodie. On the same evening we came to know that he succumbed to cancer. He is one of the kindest and gentlest souls I have the privilege to come across. A font of knowledge and wisdom, a doyen in his field, and an eternal source of optimism and inspiration. In the last few years since I have met him, I seldom saw him without a welcoming smile, a smile that only a dear friend or family member can have when they see you. It was like seeing you was the most important thing that has happened in his life. That is how much special he made you fee. Survived by his wife, a wonderful human being on her own, and three beautiful daughters, the sudden loss had a profound effect on the three of us. I clearly remember the conversation he had with my daughter Kinnera, who sought his counsel. He was patient with her, answering all the questions and asking her the right questions to make her think. He took time to have that conversation at a social event, but that is his generous nature. It was such a heart warming gesture, when he addressed Kinnera as beta, though masculine, as a term of endearment applicable to both boys and girls.
RIP my friend. I miss your charismatic wisdom, your smile and more importantly your fellowship. You are a star and whenever I look up in the sky, I see you as another celestial being.
Epilogue: The pursuit of what-ifs over enjoying what is (I have) at the present, has become a futile endeavor now. The importance of being in the present, enjoying life to the fullest, not be bothered by what tomorrow may bring, is lesson I have learned, yet again.
There is nothing more valuable than kindness and love. A little bit of either can change a whole day, a whole year or a whole life. Live for today, be kind and be with your loved ones. Stay healthy.
