I clearly remember the summer day we spent together in Cambridge. He’d driven all the way from London to visit the sister he’d adored, excited to spend time with her kids. His presence always brought a smile to our faces, perhaps due to the slight bounce in his gait or the fact that he always made sure everyone was laughing from their hearts. He was excited by everything we showed him at Churchill College, whether it was the visitors tower or even just the dining hall. We knew what he was actually excited about was being among his family, which he never let any of us forget how much he adored.
I still remember his eagerness and determination to go to Garfunkles, something that we found so funny at the time, but later realized that it wasn’t because he liked Garfunkles in particular but rather because he wanted to make sure the kids were able to have what they liked and that we had the best time possible in the UK.
He’d always joke about wanting to adopt me and I always knew I’d love it because he was that uncle who promised fun, inspiration and support all at once. Since then it’d been flowers sent to me before my dance performances, never missing a single Rakhi and the most encouraging of emails during tough times in university inspiring the potential he always believed that I had.
The uncle who’d always told me I was a star, is now among the stars smiling down on his beautiful family, rooting for them as always.
Sunena Gupta 