My eyes are swollen today... yesterday night i made the mistake of turning on my TV at 2 am and got hooked on to a showing of Kal ho na ho... as the first tear flowed down Shahrukh Khans face, my tear ducts went into overdrive..
Although this morning according to my chota sales kid, that situation would never happen in real life.. i believe he was referring to someone on their death bed being so freaking energetic and all over the place.. but that wouldnt stop me from bawling my eyes out the next time either...
Today at 11am an era came to an end. My dadi jan is 7 brothers and sisters.. her eldest brother Z dada passed away early this morning after giving in to throat cancer. His passing was thankfully peaceful since he'd passed into a coma 2 days ago and his suffering hadnt been elongated since the diagnosis had been only earlier this year. The cancer was a rare rapid growth type and in retrospect our elders say that was behtar because he didnt have to bear elongated suffering. He was over 90 Mashallah... and very very loving.
All seven brothers and sisters were together in these last few days.. all seven. Having lived through sooo much together, my mind seems boggled by the enormity of their lives.. Born and married in undivided India, they all migrated with their children at partition and made their lives here. But family has always been paramount for the Shah clan and i hope that we the children carry even a fraction of that passion and honor within us, because in this time and age when families take a back seat to everything else, my dadis family kept itself close knit and loving and thats something wonderful.
I remember Z dada... When we were younger he lived in Bleak house and all us kids used to love playing in that grand old place... old British Architecture.. there were so many places to hide.. high ceilings kept every thing cool.. the garden had ducks... that hit you with their beaks.. and it hurt too.. Z dada was called Bul-dada by the little kids coz he always kept balloons for us i think... he and Salma Dadi have wonderful children and wonderful grand children.. His kids for me truly personify the Shah family spirit... they are the most loving amazing chachas and pophi/chachi that i have... their homes are havens for the rest of the family... their hearts are even bigger..
They're rare individuals and i'm blessed... i'm very very blessed that i had the honor of calling this family my own...
I've never had to watch someones passing.. but thats what we did this time. We waited. And we prayed that when the time came it would be easy and painless... i was blessed enough to be able to be in Lahore for a day a few days ago. It was a good day. He came to the table to have his tea with the family.. he read the newspaper magnifying glass and all.. he tried talking a little bit ... he faded slowly in the days that followed but his mind was alert.. he still read his paper, although he didnt make it to the table for tea..
His continuing concern and wish was to make it to his grandaughters wedding which is in a few days. Even in the last few days he would suddenly say that he had to go to the wedding because he promised her he would be ther. And he left strict instructions that the marriage will take place regardless of his condition. The family intends to honor that wish. His passing was peaceful and we all thank Allah for that.. May Allah mian be kind to him and may heaven await him...
Aa-meen..
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I dare to dream... so sue me.. :p
GemWorld
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