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My grandfather died yesterday.
He was 92 years old. Brimming with curiosity & wit until the end.
His time with us exemplified this messy, beautiful journey we call life.
He lived deliberately.
But #Covid called & we didn’t have the luxury of saying goodbye. 1/n
He was 92 years old. Brimming with curiosity & wit until the end.
His time with us exemplified this messy, beautiful journey we call life.
He lived deliberately.
But #Covid called & we didn’t have the luxury of saying goodbye. 1/n
This is the earliest photo we have of him.
Trichy, Tamil Nadu, 1938.
Ham Radio was his thing. He made this one himself, aged 10.
It was to be the first spark
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⚡️" title="Hochspannungszeichen" aria-label="Emoji: Hochspannungszeichen">of a life-long obsession with gadgets & telecommunications.
Trichy, Tamil Nadu, 1938.
Ham Radio was his thing. He made this one himself, aged 10.
It was to be the first spark
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His wedding photo with my grandmother (1954).
They went on to have 4 sons & 2 daughters (my mother their youngest child).
They struggled immensely with a life blighted by financial instability. My mother often went to sleep hungry.
But they raised & educated all.
They went on to have 4 sons & 2 daughters (my mother their youngest child).
They struggled immensely with a life blighted by financial instability. My mother often went to sleep hungry.
But they raised & educated all.
1977. My mother (blue dress) with 3 of her brothers, her sister & her parents.
They weren’t rich.
But in a world where some are so poor that all they have is money, and where loneliness is perhaps the greatest poverty of all - they had each other.
They weren’t rich.
But in a world where some are so poor that all they have is money, and where loneliness is perhaps the greatest poverty of all - they had each other.
He adored his grandchildren.
Here he is with a one year old rogue (me) at his son’s engagement,1987.
After I moved tohttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇬🇧" title="Flagge des Vereinigten Königreiches" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge des Vereinigten Königreiches"> he would kill the fatted calf (metaphorically - we’re Hindus after all) for my visits to https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇳" title="Flagge von Indien" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Indien">.
He would trek across Madras to buy me jalebis & red bananashttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍌" title="Banane" aria-label="Emoji: Banane">
Here he is with a one year old rogue (me) at his son’s engagement,1987.
After I moved to
He would trek across Madras to buy me jalebis & red bananas
he would kill the fatted calf (metaphorically - we’re Hindus after all) for my visits to https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇳" title="Flagge von Indien" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Indien">.He would trek across Madras to buy me jalebis & red bananas https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍌" title="Banane" aria-label="Emoji: Banane">" title="He adored his grandchildren.Here he is with a one year old rogue (me) at his son’s engagement,1987.After I moved to https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇬🇧" title="Flagge des Vereinigten Königreiches" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge des Vereinigten Königreiches"> he would kill the fatted calf (metaphorically - we’re Hindus after all) for my visits to https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇳" title="Flagge von Indien" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Indien">.He would trek across Madras to buy me jalebis & red bananas https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍌" title="Banane" aria-label="Emoji: Banane">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
He was a sponge for knowledge. He would read anything from New Scientist to Which? magazine.
He was a YouTube virtuoso. He had no greater love than mobile phones.
His favourite haunt was Chennai’s Ritchie Streethttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⬇️" title="Pfeil nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach unten"> - An absolute haven of dubiously legitimate electronic goods.
He was a YouTube virtuoso. He had no greater love than mobile phones.
His favourite haunt was Chennai’s Ritchie Street
- An absolute haven of dubiously legitimate electronic goods." title="He was a sponge for knowledge. He would read anything from New Scientist to Which? magazine.He was a YouTube virtuoso. He had no greater love than mobile phones.His favourite haunt was Chennai’s Ritchie Street https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⬇️" title="Pfeil nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach unten"> - An absolute haven of dubiously legitimate electronic goods." class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
After my grandmother died (1996) he lived with his eldest son & close-knit family.
He was a quietly brilliant patriarch, cheering my cousins on with skiving school or first loves or sponsoring theirhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍕" title="Pizzastück" aria-label="Emoji: Pizzastück">nights.
The last time I saw him and my grandmother together (1995)https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⬇️" title="Pfeil nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach unten">
He was a quietly brilliant patriarch, cheering my cousins on with skiving school or first loves or sponsoring their
The last time I saw him and my grandmother together (1995)
nights.The last time I saw him and my grandmother together (1995) https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⬇️" title="Pfeil nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach unten">" title="After my grandmother died (1996) he lived with his eldest son & close-knit family.He was a quietly brilliant patriarch, cheering my cousins on with skiving school or first loves or sponsoring their https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍕" title="Pizzastück" aria-label="Emoji: Pizzastück">nights.The last time I saw him and my grandmother together (1995) https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⬇️" title="Pfeil nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach unten">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
It was a stroke of luck that he got to see my first son.
I’ll always treasure this photo (2014).
And I’ll regret that he never got the chance to meet my second son and hold him in his arms.
We had booked tickets for this August. Best laid plans, and all that.
I’ll always treasure this photo (2014).
And I’ll regret that he never got the chance to meet my second son and hold him in his arms.
We had booked tickets for this August. Best laid plans, and all that.
He would have a massive grin on his face whenever his family was all together.
He’d potter around with his Bluetooth speakershttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔊" title="Lautsprecher mit drei Schallwellen" aria-label="Emoji: Lautsprecher mit drei Schallwellen"> & debate the relative merits of iPhone vs Android into the small hours of the morning.
He would have detailed monologues about 5G in his sleep.
He’d potter around with his Bluetooth speakers
He would have detailed monologues about 5G in his sleep.
& debate the relative merits of iPhone vs Android into the small hours of the morning.He would have detailed monologues about 5G in his sleep." title="He would have a massive grin on his face whenever his family was all together.He’d potter around with his Bluetooth speakers https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔊" title="Lautsprecher mit drei Schallwellen" aria-label="Emoji: Lautsprecher mit drei Schallwellen"> & debate the relative merits of iPhone vs Android into the small hours of the morning.He would have detailed monologues about 5G in his sleep." class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
This photo with my mother from 2018.
His 90th birthday celebrationshttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥳" title="Partying face" aria-label="Emoji: Partying face"> , with inexplicably Dora-the-Explorer themed hats.
You can be a passenger through life, or you can live it deliberately. He - to quote the Dead Poets’ Society/Thoreau - sucked the marrow out of it.
His 90th birthday celebrations
You can be a passenger through life, or you can live it deliberately. He - to quote the Dead Poets’ Society/Thoreau - sucked the marrow out of it.
, with inexplicably Dora-the-Explorer themed hats. You can be a passenger through life, or you can live it deliberately. He - to quote the Dead Poets’ Society/Thoreau - sucked the marrow out of it." title="This photo with my mother from 2018. His 90th birthday celebrations https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥳" title="Partying face" aria-label="Emoji: Partying face"> , with inexplicably Dora-the-Explorer themed hats. You can be a passenger through life, or you can live it deliberately. He - to quote the Dead Poets’ Society/Thoreau - sucked the marrow out of it." class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
The human cost of Covid - the stories behind mortality statistics - reach so far beyond just ‘loss’.
The catharsis of infinitisemally small acts - holding your loved one’s hand, being with them as they breathe their last - have been a heavy price to pay.
He died alone.
The catharsis of infinitisemally small acts - holding your loved one’s hand, being with them as they breathe their last - have been a heavy price to pay.
He died alone.
In https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇳" title="Flagge von Indien" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Indien">, funerals are ritualistic & involved.
There’s a pyrehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔥" title="Feuer" aria-label="Emoji: Feuer">The eldest son lights it.
“The only hope, or else despair. Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre. To be redeemed from fire by fire”. TS Eliot
There is catharsis in these acts. And that is what Covid has wrought from us.
There’s a pyre
“The only hope, or else despair. Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre. To be redeemed from fire by fire”. TS Eliot
There is catharsis in these acts. And that is what Covid has wrought from us.
Reminiscing about his life with my mother yesterday.
And it hits you that grief doesn’t occur in a vacuum.
It intertwines with & imbues a circus of other emotions. Memories that make you laugh uncontrollably. Tears of joy mingled in with the sadness.
He’d have it no other way.
And it hits you that grief doesn’t occur in a vacuum.
It intertwines with & imbues a circus of other emotions. Memories that make you laugh uncontrollably. Tears of joy mingled in with the sadness.
He’d have it no other way.
We all unravel into the same delicate threads eventually. But I wanted to mark his life in this thread.
As his ashes are scattered into the Bay of Bengal today, I’m thankful for my good fortune to have had him in my life.
Rest In Peace, LS Rajaram (9/3/1928 - 5/7/2020)
As his ashes are scattered into the Bay of Bengal today, I’m thankful for my good fortune to have had him in my life.
Rest In Peace, LS Rajaram (9/3/1928 - 5/7/2020)
