That’s Achan in 2013 at the Red Fort. Had he been alive, My Achan (Father) would have turned 80 today. He left us on January 14, the holy day of Makara Sankranti at Brahma Muhurtham 3:30 AM. It was also a Thursday, the Holy Day of the Gurus and particularly Baghwan Sathya Sai Baba. Coincidentally 15’th day ritual also fell on a Thursday (January 29’th which was a full moon day) and today too happens to be a Thursday. We console ourselves that he has moved on to a Greater Life considering the auspiciousness of the day and the time of his departure but the void he has left behind can never be filled. The only other big consolation I have is that I was there during his final moments and could even give him the Holy water from The Ganga I had brought from my trip to Varanasi a couple of years ago. All said, there is never going to be a fraction of a moment when I can have him back, for a small chat, to take Paada namaskar, give a hug or a kiss or even have an argument. How in a flash all differences petty or big were forgiven at the moment he departed from this world. He and Amma (Mother) are the Gods who are responsible for the very breath we breathe and yet in how many ways (big and small) I have hurt them. In the initial days after his passing away I could even imagine what the starving sisters of Noida were going through during their depression after they decided to lock themselves up after their father’s death.
When you consider the good things he had done and the good examples are principles he lived by it seems like an endless list. Impeccable when it came to presentation, he never went out without a shirt or pants that weren’t ironed and pressed properly. Most of the people who knew him remember him for this attribute. People who didn’t know yet of his passing express shock and wonder be it the photocopy shops where I go to take copies of his documents containing his photographs or the vendors who pass by in the streets. Even yesterday I met an old school friend and he was asking why he hasn’t seen my Father going on his usual rounds of walking these days. Always dressed sharp his shirts and pants were all custom stitched (Achan never wore any ready made shirts, Tees, Trousers or Pants) he was always a pleasant sight. Going over his list of good habits would read like an over indulgence of mine and so I will not be going into the same though I very much want to. This IS an Eulogy afterall. However among the several wonderful attributes, his observance of the strict rules for fasting and prayer for the Sabarimalai pilgrimage was legend having been on the Pilgrimage 22 times of which most of them were by the long route. Thank God, I had the privilege of accompanying him on 4 of those trips. Achan would cup his ears when he would pass by a Television set that would be playing. I could simply go on and on and on.
Even his passing away wasn’t in vain. He left me a changed person in many ways I cannot describe them all for now. Will I ever stop grieving? May your soul Rest in Peace, my dear Achan. You remain forever in our hearts.
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