Memories Never Fade

How ecstatic he must have felt when he first held me, as an infant, in his arms. The caressed, hugs, the way he tossed me up in the air, the cuddles that I was embraced with as a child are still intact as a memoir deep in my brain. Being raised by a single mother, he was a fatherly figure to me. Hence the saying “When one door closes, another door opens…

I am writing this post to recollect the sweet moments I shared with him. Some people hold special place in our lives that even when they go away, those places remain void filled with emptiness that no one can fill. So was he...

With great vibrancy and enthusiasm, he would wake me up every morning for school. Weekends were always fun and a short trip to nearby market or an ice cream treat was guaranteed. Come summer vacations, we would pack our bags and head towards the mountains to beat the heat and get mesmerised by the picturesque view of Mother Nature.

I still remember, as a kid, every Sunday he would take us to children's park. While enjoying our swings, he would stand behind us so that we do not falter.


He would ardently get up early morning & visit Bangla Sahib owing to his liking and the peace he used to get while listening to chants of holy Grantha Sahib. I still remember when, he, woke all of us at 3 am in the morning to visit Gurudwara. As we walked on the white marbled floor amidst sparkling & glittering star dotted sky, the chants from holy Grantha sahib made the atmosphere divine.


A big food lover, he never missed visiting any new venture and trying the delicacies. We always satiated our taste buds, during summers, on my favourite dessert, Kulfi Faluda. There was a hidden chef in him which used to come out whenever he tried new dishes.

An ideal husband, caring brother, loving father and industrious businessman. Mere mentions of these traits are enough to form picture of his in your minds.

We were passionately preparing for his daughter's wedding and doing last minute shopping to add to would be bride's trousseau. While shopping at Chandni Chowk, he saw me gazing at wine coloured Saree. Quite hesitant to express my liking for the outfit, since we were shopping for my cousin, I preferred to keep quiet. Within fraction of seconds, he asked salesman to bring two attires for me, one of my choice & other of his choice, and drape to see how it looked on me. Happily I grabbed both of them, and he paid for them. I was stunned at how he read my mind and liking for the outfit.

Festivities became delightful and joyful. Every year during Diwali,we would visit every nook and corner of the city and gorged on every single delicacy.

2009- Who knew this was going to be last Diwali with him. Busy in daily house chores, after the end of festive season, mom received a call around 11 am that was uninvited for...


He lay unconscious on terrace of his home and was immediately rushed to hospital. Brain stroke & paralysis had hit him. IVs were on his hand. He was on supporting life system and breathing through ventilator. As I stood near the bed, he tried to lift his right arm to hug me but couldn’t... With quaking fingers he pointed towards the exit door denoting me to take him back home. How miserable he must have felt that time at his inability to move his body, to get up...I leaned myself whispering in his right ear "We will take you back soon". Flinched by his condition, I turned myself and started moving towards the exit door. With drooped mouth, he was blabbering that inferred his keenness to go back to home. Seeing him in such deplorable condition, I came out from ICU sobbing.

Seconds, minutes, days and months passed...We all would visit him in the hospital with the hope that he would recover soon and come back. He had turned emaciated and his health was getting deplorable day by day.

And then came the Black Friday-29 Jan 2010-My phone rang while I was at work...In quavering tone, my cousin started crying...What she said shook my soul up."Ruchi, mama (maternal uncle) is no more... 

Seven years have passed. Seasons keep on changing, festivals come and go. He is not present physically yet his presence is and will always be felt. He is gone but he left us with wonderful memories to cherish on.

People often say -Let the bygone be bygones


How can someone forget & simply let go the departure of frolicsome & benevolent soul from our lives. His affection & love never wavered over the years, not even when he had his own daughters.


The first page of mom's diary read as "Yun toh jaane ko sab jaate hain,but koi aisey nahin jaata jaise tum chalein gayein,mere bhai" (People leave us, but nobody ever left the way my brother exited from my life.