Every year at Rakhi, my sister and I would go visit our Chacha's (Dad's brother) house bright and early in the morning. We would buy 'rakhis', sweets, and hop on to dad's scooter - it was the most exciting day of the entire year.
I have endless childhood memories with Surinder Chacha. He would always take us to this shop, where we could get hot and yummy Chanas-puris. He would also make our cousin (Ankit) pay LOTS of money as a rakhi present. Every year, we followed the same routine - we looked forward to it.
I went to India in April'08 and Chacha gave me money from all the rakhis I had missed so far :)
I never take money from anyone, but as funny as it sounds, taking that rakhi money brought back some great childhood memories.
Unfortunately, Chacha passed away in a sudden and shocking accident last week. Everyone has been in a state of shock. The sadness knows no bound. I am trying to accept the fact that he is no longer going to be around when I visit India next time. I am also trying to tell myself that everything will be okay for our family soon. I have been trying to commnunicate to my cousin that he doesn't need to worry about anything..ever.
I am not very expressive with words when it comes to expressing my love or sorrow.
I realized today that a sense of loss either brings people together, or farther away from each other.
I also realized that life is extremely short and unpredictable - we should try to soothe out any differences we might have with friends or family, because they might be gone by the time you are done being angry with them.
I hope Chacha's soul rests in peace - we will always miss you.
