Your candle burnt out long before; your legend never will
As the lonely leaf that flutters in a desolate branch that spring leaves, sadness enters my heart as I cry for my beloved sister.
My darling sister Narges, the youngest in our family, was the apple of my father’s eye, the late Julius Guneratnam. Both my late mother Devanesam and late brother Christy along with my brother Alague would at all times adore her; which at weak moments of time, in the long long past, would make me envious. Nay, she remained to the last my dearest and only companion.
She was the beloved wife of the late Dr. Ariam Nalliah and darling ‘amma’ of Dr. Arjan and Dr. Raj and Chloe. She passed away on the fateful day of July 13, last year leaving us in a state of shock and never-ending grief. Gone before to that unknown and silent shore she was too young to die, but fate decreed otherwise. She bid us farewell, passed away having completed her course, the noble deeds that remain in our hearts, concealed but most esteemed. The greatest athlete Vembaddi Girls School produced, she was full of fighting spirit to the last, full of faith and inner strength that came straight from God. In a touching moment before the casket was lifted by Arjan and Raj, the beautiful words of the famous song “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother” seemed to have filled the air with a little modification, most fitting for the moment: “She ain’t heavy, she is our mother.”
Dear sister, I know how happily all of you lived in Karawanella, with Ariam the revered medical officer, loved by the rich and the poor alike for his philanthropy. Many a poor patient would be treated by Dr. Nalliah for no payment. All of a sudden life took a turn; to be filled with adversities. Yet, I admired you, for that did not sway you from your faith. You remained cheerful to the last. You lost your home in Sri Lanka in 1983, were virtually left penniless and had to flee to Australia. How tragic. Life in Australia was not that rosy either. As fate would have it, your beloved husband fell ill and you had to nurse him till the end. The road ahead was once again full of holes and was as winding; yet you supported your sons Arjan and Raj, however difficult it was. They were your pride and joy. Right through their university studies you continued to work at the surgery, however difficult, always with a smile. They say troubles come in convoys, your house was burgled and everything taken away. Then came the floods that destroyed what was left in 2011.
In spite of it, your life had been an example of a true Christian. A true and faithful servant of the living God who earned her rest in the arms of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I would like to revert to Sir Elton John’s ‘Candle in the wind’, for the famous line keeps ringing - “your candle burnt out long before, your legend never will”. Goodbye my loving Kunchu, till we meet again. “The Lord is my light and salvation”.
Nesie Nalliah