When I was 12, chacha Kresh would sit his son Ashis, and me down on his couch and read us stories from the Reader's Digest. "It will help you improve your english" he kept saying. Now that I recall this fond memory of him, I also tell myself that maybe he was experimenting with us, maybe he perceived himself as a sort of teacher bestowed with the duty and responsibility of transmitting something valuable to the younger generation. It was nice to witness the passion burning inside of him and watch the gleam in his eyes. He loved all his children dearly and always made me feel that I was very much part of his tribe.
Chacha Kresh never recovered from the passing of Shalini, his daughter. She was in her early 40s and succumbed from brain tumor. That was it. That was the day the gleam in his eyes faded away, his mental health went into a slow decline and his unbearable suffering became so palpable that we could almost physically feel it.
Chachi Sona is a strong person. She stood by her husband, year after year, supporting him despite her own pain. It is no secret that women are stronger than men. Women tend to worry about all sorts of things but we, men, on the other hand have fears. It is an affliction which renders us even more vulnerable.
Ashis became a recluse and Poupoune, the youngest of the siblings never got married. It all sounds like a very sad story but actually it's the reality of so many families when the laughter inside the home suddenly stops for whichever reason and a heavy silence descends and fills the air.
Bidding farewell to chacha Kresh yesterday felt both strange and poignant for me, it was an experience marked again by both sadness and nostalgia. It was a moment that carried the weight of both cherished memories and the reality of separation. The last time I visited him was last year when I brought the family litchis from our garden. He reacted by smiling at me when I took his hands into mine. It was a moment charged with emotions. I expressed gratitude to him then for having me in his family as I was growing up and for the many stories he read to me. I don't know if he understood everything I was saying but I believe it was important to say it loud when he was still alive. It was my goodbye and blessing to him.
Chacha Kresh passed away the same day his daughter Shalini did, on the 29th of November. How more symbolic can this be? Farewells are a natural part of life, marking the ebb and flow of relationships and experiences. I am turning 51 today and I just feel another milestone has been reached in my journey of personal growth.
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