My father was extremely proud of all his grandchildren. He always longed to see his grandchildren and hear about their work or achievements. Till the time, he could hear well on the phone, it was easy to remain in touch with each of them. But after 2019, he could manage only with the help of a hearing aid but this was of no help during phone calls. Some of them came home once in a while whenever they got time and met their grandfather. Unfortunately, during Covid pandemic, physical interaction with his grandchildren got reduced to the barest minimum which anguished him even more. He missed all of them dearly.
However, April 2022 was a bit different. On April 3, 2022 Rachel came calling along with her husband, Sebastian from London to meet their Grandfather. Rachel was the first one to be born amongst all of my father’s grandchildren and they always had a special bonding.
Later that month, on April 12, 2022 Joanna had come to meet her grandfather along with her spouse, Calvin. Calvin had completed his graduation in Commerce from SRCC (Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi) in 2012, the College where my father had taught for nearly three decades. My father recollected some of his memories while in College.
April 17, 2022 was Easter Sunday. Since morning, my father had been feeling very low. He was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open and sleeping much more than usual. His appetite had reduced considerably. That evening, a few of his grandchildren had come to meet my father and wish him for Easter. They included the twins – Grace and Lourdu, Jonathan and Miriam, Michelle along with her spouse Amit. There was a brief moment in the evening when my father felt a little better. He sat in bed and spoke to each of them one by one to update himself on what each one was doing. In fact, this was the last time that he could speak coherently with his eyes open. Some of these conversations were recorded partially by me for posterity.
A couple of days later, my father left for his heavenly abode in the early hours of April 20, 2022.