Philip Thekkekara (known as Thomachen) - my mother's second cousin passed away on Friday afternoon. He was around sixty years old. I went to attend his funeral this morning.
I cannot claim to be close to Thomachen uncle - he used to come home once in a while when I was staying with my parents in Bangalore. After they moved to Kerala, I used to meet him rarely: at a lunch or dinner at someone's home or after the evening mass at the Holy Ghost Church on some Sundays. He was always warm, fun to talk to and a great raconteur. He would narrate stories from his days in college and his twenties. I still remember him talking about the a lady who he knew when in college and was the Managing Director's secretary at Motorola (where I worked). "She was a hot number", Thomachen uncle would say, with a twinkle in his eye. Another story was about his going to US to study - he ran into kids from homes where he used to deliver milk and became the center of attention in the college when they told their classmates that their "milkman had come to the US to study". In the eulogy, his sister said, "it was easy to have a coversation with Thomachen because he would talk more than enough for both sides". He would indeed talk non-stop but you enjoyed listening to him. She also quoted the verse from 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith".
In some ways Thomachen uncle was a link into old Bangalore and into a time when things were simpler, less hectic and most likely more fun. He seemed keen to preserve his style and way of life - a difficult task in the face of all the changes taking part in the city.
This is the second funeral I am attending this year; the earlier one was in January for my mother's sister. I guess that as you grow older, deaths have a deeper impact on you. When you are young most of the deaths in the family are of people from your grandparents generation; I guess we grow up considering them as "old" so it doesn't strike us as much as it does now when you find the hand of death reaching out for people who are closer to you - elder relatives who belong to your parents' generation.
1 comment:
Phillip was dizzyingly fun to be with. Our home is a farm in Bagalur and he used to drop in on his way back to his farm. His childhood to the present were movie-material. On his return from USA, he would come to our farm and recount about his part-time jobs adventures. He liked money, food and good living but did not care too much for them. Well lived life though short, I miss him. I am 70.
ROM
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