Favourite family

Boid

All-Pro
Location
Bangalore, India
Name
Rajiv
The nicest man I've ever known died a few months ago.

My dad's eldest brother, a refugee from Bangladesh, who raised his seven siblings with sheer determination, kindness and very very little money, passed away after a short bout with cancer at the ripe old age of 82.

I went to his funeral in Calcutta after many years of staying away, here's what I saw.


It was not the dark filling my eyes
And mouth appalled me; not even the drip
Of rain like blood from the one tree
Weather-tortured. It was the dark
Silting the veins of that sick man
I left stranded upon the vast
And lonely shore of his bleak bed.

~ RS Thomas


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Woman prays to a wall
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A younger brother shares stories from his childhood and then stops abdruptly.
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The help watch TV
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The best friend. "I'm next but I've seen it all, and I'm ready"
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According to hindu beliefs, crows link the dead and the living. On the last day of the mourning rituals, crows are fed offerings so that they may carry it to the dead.
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Thank you everyone for your kind words. Much appreciated.

Though I must admit that the pictures convey more gloom than what was the prevalent mood there. Probably more a reflection of how I felt.

I'll miss him. He was from the old world and a lovely lovely bloke.
 
Sorry for your loss, Rajiv. However, in times like these, Dumbledore's words always ring in my head: mourn for the living, not the dead. We still have some ways to go to get to that better place. :)

We all have had our share of losses and I find that telling stories about them (like your other uncle) are a wonderful source of joy -- but those abrupt stops are what always get me. Your pictures are a very nice tribute to him.
 
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