For years from very early in our childhood and till now, there was an uncle. An amazing family friend, more of a family man himself, lovingly known, called, and fondly remembered as Babu Uncle by Ani and I.
He passed away few days ago. I hope it was a peaceful death. For he deserves it.
When people close to you die, they leave behind a void. A void that will be filled with a surge of emotions inside of you every time you think of the memories they leave behind. He left behind such a huge void.
A rocking chair/easy chair will never be the same for me anymore. For he loved nothing more than sitting on such chairs, cracking jokes all the while with paan in his mouth...
"Edi... Abhi must be hungry! Give him lunch on time! He's not like Prashant!" will forever echo in my humble heart.
I still remember Shikari Shambu, Dennis the Menace, and more such comic characters sketched by him on the wall in their earlier apartment where Ani, Pravin, Prashant, and I used to spend days and nights playing and watching TV.
That sweet taste of Maltova mixed and frozen with semiya payasam still lingers on in my mouth... So does the spicy and tangy aftertaste of veggie Maggi noodles he had made for all of us on a balmy Sunday afternoon during some forsaken summer vacation.
Going for Pravin's chorunnu at Goregaon's Bangur Nagar Ayyappa temple with him and family is my first first class experience in Bombay's suburban train!
Maths was easier till 8th standard or so because he taught me equations like a squared plus b squared is equal to c squared. Also, I remember one of my best summer months (the summer of '94) spent at his place along with Prashant when my parents and Ani had gone to Kerala as I had enrolled for Dhananjay classes!
His glorious jokes (sometimes, PJs) on different aspects of life, living, work, and government apathy lifted all of us from misery even when we were in the doldrums.
Yes, he drank. Some of my purest memories of him are when he was drunk, but he was, in fact, extremely affectionate to all of us. Drinking was his only vice and it took him away sooner from us than death would've.
I still remember him enjoying warm Kerala sadhya at my home on many occasions. I remember him making fun of Bhadra Aunty's cooking style, method, and time for preparation, especially.
I still remember the awe in my eyes when I saw the first Videocon semi-automatic washing machine washing clothes at his place without any human intervention! That green machine made me more curious of how stuff works!
The number of times he and Bhadra Aunty have helped our family in times of need is legendary. I remember him/her paying Ani's and my school computer classes' fees on multiple occasions. When my grandmother passed away and many folks had come from all over Vasai and Kerala for cremation, I spied him putting a wad of INR 10K into my dad's shirt pocket without anyone else noticing.
He was an honest MSEB engineer, a great father to his sons, a good husband, and a wonderful father figure for Ani and me. You know, he was the kind of man who made sweet stuff sweeter in life.
May he attain moksha. Blessed is his soul.
