RICH Soul

I was calling my mother almost every day to check his health. I also checked with one of the Doctors who did the surgery. As a routine, I called her yesterday.  She didn’t pick up my call. I was into my office calls and suddenly I saw a couple of missed calls. I could sense it. I called her back and her phone was engaged. By then my wife came into my room conveying that “He passed away moments ago”.

I had the opportunity to see him last week in the hospital as his condition was uncertain in the words of a Doctor. I had the opportunity to be with his elder brother. It was a touching moment when his 92-year-old brother kissed his forehead and hand and wished him recovery. I heard my 95-year grandmother telling someone how she missed him as she did not see him during her 95th birthday gathering. This time when we clicked photos along with grandmother’s siblings, I noticed the missing two brothers. One had passed 10 years ago and another was hospitalized battling for life. I learned about siblings’ love from my grandmother and her siblings.  I can imagine in this hour of mourning what they are going through. My sense of gratitude was for that “one picture” I took with all of them sitting next to each other in their home town. Shortly after that, all the pictures were incomplete.

He was a man of few words. He was there for his family and the extended family always. He would speak slowly but act wisely. Last month when I was in my home town, I had the opportunity to meet him. He was weak and was speaking less. I asked him whether he was reading any book just to change his mind.  His words rocked me as he knew inside that he was left with only a few months to live.

My sense of gratitude goes to what he did for all in the family for being there for all of us. Whenever we needed him, he was the icon of support. I remember when someone in the family wants to find out our relative’s houses ( this was before Google, before the mobile phone, before any kind of phone) he was the go-to person. He knew all our relative’s houses and they all knew him as a gentleman with a big heart.

I am reminded of  Robin Sharma’s book, “who will cry when you die”? For this RICH soul, a lot of them. In a few hours, he will be cremated and I offer my sincere gratitude and tribute to a RICH soul and a role model to emulate for the rest of the family members. After all, nothing gold can stay!