I have been meaning to write on this for a very long time, but somehow, each time I sit down to type a few words , all I could see in front of me was the mist covering up my eyes and his young cheerful face in my mind. The smile which enchanted all of us, the glow in his eyes, the youthful eagerness in his every move…..These are all what is left behind for us to remember Vipi.
Lovingly known as ‘Vipi’ to family and friends and ‘Vipin Das’ to colleagues, I am sure that even as I type these words out, there a many people out there who are remembering him in their minds. That was the charisma this young man had. Hard to believe that so many months have passed by, that so many seasons have changed, since vipi became the guarding angel of our family.
It feels like only yesterday that I met him for the first time.
The day before our wedding… January 14, 2007
Thanks to the many anecdotes from my husband’s childhood which he shared with me, I was already familiar with my entire to-be family. However, since I was meeting all them for the first time, face to face, I was trying to identify each one of them based on all that vinuettan(my husband Vinod ) had shared with me earlier. Of all the faces, the one face where I dint face any difficulty in placing was that of my new little brother – vipi. He was just as I had imagined him to be. The memory of the young handsome young man in the white sherwani sporting a cute smile on his cheerful face standing by everyone else to welcome me to the new chapter in my life, is still fresh in my mind.
With all the wedding celebrities and the following customs and rush, I never really got a chance to get to know him better. Even before we realized it, it was time for me and vinuettan to get back to the new life which awaited us in Bangalore and for vipi to return to US with amma and achan.
Our next chance to meet came along on OCT 2007 when Vipi came down to Bangalore to pay us a visit. With the 2 brother’s catching up on the past few months and my culinary experiments, we never realized the days pass by. For those of you who don’t know this, Vipi is an excellent cook. His specialty Beef fry’s taste still lingers in my mouth. Being an average cook myself, Vipi also gave me some valuable tips on the chicken curry I had prepared for him.
We got another chance to meet again soon afterwards, when we had all gathered in our maternal ancestral home for our grandmother’s funeral. Despite the gloomy reason for our gathering, the family bonding moments were plenty and I look back on those days as an opportunity where I got to know my little brother more.
Even though we never interacted over mails or phone calls, the once-in- a- year birthday wishes always felt like we had known each other for a long time. I have heard a lot about him from both, my husband and my mother-in-law - A bright student, a cheeky brother, a doting son, a daring youth fascinated by automobiles and gadgets. They never ran out of descriptions for him.
The Day - July 23, 2009
We were at a friend’s house when my husband gets a call in his cell phone, that his younger brother was hospitalized in CCU for pancreatitis . As is the formality for travelling to the US, we applied for the visa following which we went to the US constellate for the interview. Despite the difficult situation we were in, we had a difficult time going through the whole process and getting the VISA stamped. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, we finally got the visa. We were happy and excited that we could see Vipi , but we never knew the happiness lasted only for a few hours .The next day ,When I was traveling in the bus after a hectic day’s work , I get a call from my cousin sister, that my one and only brother – in-law was no more. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was trying to convince her that he was just critical. I tried calling my husband; he was not picking the calls. When I reached home, I knew the reason for avoiding my calls.
We left for U.S within few hours once our passport came in. The day after we reached was the funeral. He wore a jet black suit, was placed royally in the coffin. He looked at his best and very peaceful, but the smile on his face told us:
“I have become angel, watching over everyone, please don’t shed tears for me, God has given me my life and I was really fortunate to have as family as loving, I have lived my life to the fullest, and now I am in the safe hands of God .Life is too short, there’s no time for hate and regrets, love everyone who comes your way, Keep the smile intact….. This is all I have to say from the heaven above
The smile conveyed it all.
-Dedicated to my brother-in-law.
This blog is edited by my best friend deepthi :)
Lovingly known as ‘Vipi’ to family and friends and ‘Vipin Das’ to colleagues, I am sure that even as I type these words out, there a many people out there who are remembering him in their minds. That was the charisma this young man had. Hard to believe that so many months have passed by, that so many seasons have changed, since vipi became the guarding angel of our family.
It feels like only yesterday that I met him for the first time.
The day before our wedding… January 14, 2007
Thanks to the many anecdotes from my husband’s childhood which he shared with me, I was already familiar with my entire to-be family. However, since I was meeting all them for the first time, face to face, I was trying to identify each one of them based on all that vinuettan(my husband Vinod ) had shared with me earlier. Of all the faces, the one face where I dint face any difficulty in placing was that of my new little brother – vipi. He was just as I had imagined him to be. The memory of the young handsome young man in the white sherwani sporting a cute smile on his cheerful face standing by everyone else to welcome me to the new chapter in my life, is still fresh in my mind.
With all the wedding celebrities and the following customs and rush, I never really got a chance to get to know him better. Even before we realized it, it was time for me and vinuettan to get back to the new life which awaited us in Bangalore and for vipi to return to US with amma and achan.
Our next chance to meet came along on OCT 2007 when Vipi came down to Bangalore to pay us a visit. With the 2 brother’s catching up on the past few months and my culinary experiments, we never realized the days pass by. For those of you who don’t know this, Vipi is an excellent cook. His specialty Beef fry’s taste still lingers in my mouth. Being an average cook myself, Vipi also gave me some valuable tips on the chicken curry I had prepared for him.
We got another chance to meet again soon afterwards, when we had all gathered in our maternal ancestral home for our grandmother’s funeral. Despite the gloomy reason for our gathering, the family bonding moments were plenty and I look back on those days as an opportunity where I got to know my little brother more.
Even though we never interacted over mails or phone calls, the once-in- a- year birthday wishes always felt like we had known each other for a long time. I have heard a lot about him from both, my husband and my mother-in-law - A bright student, a cheeky brother, a doting son, a daring youth fascinated by automobiles and gadgets. They never ran out of descriptions for him.
The Day - July 23, 2009
We were at a friend’s house when my husband gets a call in his cell phone, that his younger brother was hospitalized in CCU for pancreatitis . As is the formality for travelling to the US, we applied for the visa following which we went to the US constellate for the interview. Despite the difficult situation we were in, we had a difficult time going through the whole process and getting the VISA stamped. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, we finally got the visa. We were happy and excited that we could see Vipi , but we never knew the happiness lasted only for a few hours .The next day ,When I was traveling in the bus after a hectic day’s work , I get a call from my cousin sister, that my one and only brother – in-law was no more. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was trying to convince her that he was just critical. I tried calling my husband; he was not picking the calls. When I reached home, I knew the reason for avoiding my calls.
We left for U.S within few hours once our passport came in. The day after we reached was the funeral. He wore a jet black suit, was placed royally in the coffin. He looked at his best and very peaceful, but the smile on his face told us:
“I have become angel, watching over everyone, please don’t shed tears for me, God has given me my life and I was really fortunate to have as family as loving, I have lived my life to the fullest, and now I am in the safe hands of God .Life is too short, there’s no time for hate and regrets, love everyone who comes your way, Keep the smile intact….. This is all I have to say from the heaven above
The smile conveyed it all.
-Dedicated to my brother-in-law.
This blog is edited by my best friend deepthi :)
2 comments:
:-(
Very touching one da ! honestly. Its almost a year since this happened, but the tears welling up are always new and never aging. Praying to the almighty to render the family to cope with this great loss. I am sure he is happy being among the clouds :)
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