Every time I say/think of mama, I can clearly visualize his smiling face and 'what next' attitude. He was like a rock to all of us. He was always young at heart and used to enthrall us with his escapades.
It all happened 2 years ago, when he came back from the US. He had lost about 10kgs within 6 months and all of us were naive enough and attributed it to the low fat diet, that too devoid of the daily dose of deep fried stuff like vadai, kaaravadai and bajji, while in US.
At the maximum we thought it might be diabetics. But, all our assumptions were wrong and he was diagnosed with with level 4 stomach cancer. Since then the fight against that deadly enemy started. He was facing it with grace.
It is hard to believe that, even 2 weeks ago, when I was in India, mama was driving, talking and laughing with us. Life is too short. His health deteriorated drastically within a short span and his last 3 days were terrible, for the family.
Though, he was unconscious the thought that he might be silently suffering was terrifying. Yesterday, mama passed away and I was unable to go home and pay my last respect. Direct flights to my home town was fully booked because of Chinese New Year. However, tomorrow morning am going home to India to be with my aunt and give her moral support at this tough time.
During my childhood, like any other electronic items, camera was an expensive stuff and only he had an imported Yashika (B & W) film camera. He was my first inspiration to photography and here is a tribute to him.
