A friend’s father passed away on Friday. Shirish and I had gone to pay our respects at the home on Friday. And yesterday, Shishir and I went for the burial ceremony at Sewri.
It was a Christian (methodist, i think) ceremony. The hymns were in Bengali, the congregation was predominantly Tamil, Maharashtrian and Kannada. My friend is devastated. He was very close to his parents.

I asked my dad yesterday, does one get over the death of a parent. He said that he still hadn’t gotten over the death of my grandfather. 1962 was the year my grandfather died. My father has lived more years without his father, than with him. And yet, he feels the loss 43 years after the event.

For all of us who who live with or are very close to our parents – events like this brings home home a very real situation. Our parents are not immortal – much as we may want them to be.
In corporate life and in business, I have run many “what if…” scenarios. It has been my job to predict danger or instability and plug it. The one time i ran the what if scenario – what if i had to run life without my parents – on my life, i broke down. And, i am not really the “breaking down” types.

This week end i stay put at home – spending some quality time hugging my parents.