OBITUARY : OMAR RAWAT

“Blood brother, we were not, and yet we share an undefined brotherly love;
Blood brother, we were not, and yet we were thicker than blood;
Blood brother we were not, and yet I lost a brother;
Blood brother we were not, how come I am grieving then the loss of another brother”.
You left us at an untimely age and at a totally unsuspected time thereby robbing us all of your irreplaceable blissful company, your flair for always finding something “nice” to say about those you care and love to add some spice to the occasion, and your God given gift of that perpetual and wonderfully honest, boyish, charming and envious smile, and your unique sense of humour, both hallmarks of who you were and which will be forever and ever encrusted in our minds and souls.
Your battle with Mortality was stacked right from the beginning. It was sudden, without warning, devious, underhanded, deceitful and worse than Machiavellian. And yet, you stood firm, kept your cool, looked at the cards you were dealt with, consider the alternatives, and never lost your eternal smile, your intellect or your heart warming sense of humour.  Not even when your visitors showed such apprehension about you, did you for a second lose your usual wit and composure. You showed more guts, spirits and resilience than the present company combined. You gave us all a lesson of what courage and fortitude really stand for and you set the bar as high as it could get.
Your sudden departure stunned all of us, to say the least. There is no doubt that we will never recover completely from the tremendous void that you left behind. However, we take great comfort and solace in that you leave behind an unblemished legacy that you can be very proud of and that people of all walks of life will remember and talk about for generations to come. You have accomplished the missions and fulfilled the promises you were created for. We mourn your untimely exit but we  also honour and celebrate your achievements, your passion for life and for everything that you undertook, but most of all for the tremendous love, affections and care that you never ceased to lavish on your loved ones, especially your most faithful, dedicated and loving better half.
Knowing you the way I do, I can visualize you at the Gates of Paradise smartly dressed in white addressing and mesmerizing the Gate Keeper and the Angels despatched to welcome you with that candid and amazing smile of yours with the following words spoken with your usual soft, sweet voice but loaded with humour and wit: “Since you have found it fit to bring me here unannounced, I might as well make myself useful by doing what I do best. How about auditing what you have been doing since Adam and Eve ate the apple in the Garden of Eden?”
Words fail to express what we feel deep down in our hearts and minds for having lost you so unexpectedly. But that’s life and we know that you would want us to continue to live and fulfill our dreams while remembering the great times that we had together and enjoying every memory that we shared and which brought us closer and closer. Fare thee well, my brother. May your smile light up Paradise and your wit make the Angels laugh to their heart’s content. Rest in Peace and may your legacy and spirits continue to guide and inspire us to greater things. Ameen.  Ibrahim A. Vayid