Saturday, September 25, 2010


Eulogy to my uncle
How do you capture the ocean in a bottle? How can you describe a phenomenon
in a sentence? My uncle, KLN, was a giant among men. He was the epitome
of selflessness. He was someone that others can only aspire to emulate. He was a
genius at everything he did.- a true all rounder. I cherish fond childhood memories
of the uncle who got me my first Enid Blyton from the library and introduced me
to the fascinating world of books. He would quiz me at the end of a book to make
sure I understood what I read. Till the end of my education, I knew that if I had a
mathematical problem, there would be one person who could solve it – my uncle. I
would leave the problem beside his bed and wait till he got home from a busy day at
the hospital. By morning, the servant would deliver my solution along with the milk.
We shared a common love for books, cross word puzzles and quizzes – probably
the genes had something to do with it .He was a whiz at chess, caroms, card games
– anything you did, he could do one better. He remains the only doctor I know with
beautiful handwriting. The beauty of his entire personality was his understated,
unassuming profile. He never craved for the limelight. Although he was a wonderful
writer and orator, he let other people do the talking whilst for him – his actions spoke
louder than words.

He was a self made man who lived and died by his ideals. Never did I see him wallow
in self pity even in the face of insurmountable personal losses like the death of his
babies. He took everything that life threw at him as a challenge and moved on without
complaining.

If he had so wished, he could have made a fortune in his career by moving
to the west. However, he chose to stay and work for the poor and mentally
challenged of Kolkata till destiny played a cruel hand in snatching him away.

Those whom the Gods love die young. However someone who lives in the memories
of so many never really dies – he just moves on to a different world. I just feel blessed
that I had the good fortune of having him for an uncle. If I go through life being a
fraction of the person he was I would have led a meaningful life.

3 comments:

  1. never knew nana chitapa as well as you did sis ...howver felt very bad when I heard the sad news . He was a good person and may good sense prevail on others to act well - as you said - even a fraction of his actions will go a long way in making us better people.

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