My dear children,
Sunder’s sudden death has devastated every one of us. As Vidya says it was a Tsunami; our Dr. Durairaj described the type of Leukemia that struck him as an Atom Bomb from which he could not have recovered at all.
However, this unforeseen tragedy should not lead us to forsake God; nor should we believe that HE does not exist. As you will note from the several near tragic episodes that I shall be narrating in this letter, God does exist and He is as loving and merciful as He appears cruel. All of us should, therefore, continue to have faith in Him and seek His blessings in whatever we do.
I consider it appropriate to list down the following events in our family only to show how the Lord has showered His mercies on us:
1. Way back in the 1930s there was a small pox epidemic in Bombay; your grandmother was also a victim. Thousands perished but Patimma survived, though she suffered blindness for the rest of her life. She was a gracious lady who lived her full life and joined her husband in heaven within just 3 weeks after his death (a couple Made for each Other!).
2. In the Indo-Pak riots of 1947, your Patappa escaped from the jaws of death. That indeed was a shining example of the Lord’s mercy. Within three days of his leaving Lahore in his Ford car, jam packed with several of his colleagues and subordinates, the Remington office where they had all taken refuge, was attacked by the Pakis and an elderly Punjabi Cashier, who adamantly chose to remain behind, was killed.
3. In 1964 Patappa was, once again, rescued from death by the Lord from a virulent attack of Tetanus.
4. In 1974 Vidya escaped death when she fell from a running train! What a providential escape!. Was this not God’s mercy? I cannot forget Delhi Athimbar (Venkittu Athan’s father) telling me, ‘Chandru, it was your father’s daily Pooja that saved your child’.
5. In 1988 your own mother came back alive after a nasty asthmatic attack which developed into, more or less, a hemorrhage. I was away in Bangla Desh at that time!
Children, what is destined to happen will happen, however much you might try to stop it. The ways of Destiny are inscrutable. As the learned Sri Gopalakrishna Iyer, the Vedic scholar, said the other day every human being comes in to this world with a return ticket. Sunder’s time on earth was over, so he left. Had he survived he would not have lived a normal life any more. God was merciful enough to take him away so that we do not see him suffer. Let us therefore console ourselves that Sunder did not live to suffer and thank the Almighty for His benevolence and mercy in this respect.
I shall conclude this letter with one of your Sita Patimma’s sayings :’your prayers and your good deeds are like your Provident Fund. They are credited to your account in God’s books. They will come to your aid when you need them.’
Love,
Daddy
20/02/08
Sunder’s sudden death has devastated every one of us. As Vidya says it was a Tsunami; our Dr. Durairaj described the type of Leukemia that struck him as an Atom Bomb from which he could not have recovered at all.
However, this unforeseen tragedy should not lead us to forsake God; nor should we believe that HE does not exist. As you will note from the several near tragic episodes that I shall be narrating in this letter, God does exist and He is as loving and merciful as He appears cruel. All of us should, therefore, continue to have faith in Him and seek His blessings in whatever we do.
I consider it appropriate to list down the following events in our family only to show how the Lord has showered His mercies on us:
1. Way back in the 1930s there was a small pox epidemic in Bombay; your grandmother was also a victim. Thousands perished but Patimma survived, though she suffered blindness for the rest of her life. She was a gracious lady who lived her full life and joined her husband in heaven within just 3 weeks after his death (a couple Made for each Other!).
2. In the Indo-Pak riots of 1947, your Patappa escaped from the jaws of death. That indeed was a shining example of the Lord’s mercy. Within three days of his leaving Lahore in his Ford car, jam packed with several of his colleagues and subordinates, the Remington office where they had all taken refuge, was attacked by the Pakis and an elderly Punjabi Cashier, who adamantly chose to remain behind, was killed.
3. In 1964 Patappa was, once again, rescued from death by the Lord from a virulent attack of Tetanus.
4. In 1974 Vidya escaped death when she fell from a running train! What a providential escape!. Was this not God’s mercy? I cannot forget Delhi Athimbar (Venkittu Athan’s father) telling me, ‘Chandru, it was your father’s daily Pooja that saved your child’.
5. In 1988 your own mother came back alive after a nasty asthmatic attack which developed into, more or less, a hemorrhage. I was away in Bangla Desh at that time!
Children, what is destined to happen will happen, however much you might try to stop it. The ways of Destiny are inscrutable. As the learned Sri Gopalakrishna Iyer, the Vedic scholar, said the other day every human being comes in to this world with a return ticket. Sunder’s time on earth was over, so he left. Had he survived he would not have lived a normal life any more. God was merciful enough to take him away so that we do not see him suffer. Let us therefore console ourselves that Sunder did not live to suffer and thank the Almighty for His benevolence and mercy in this respect.
I shall conclude this letter with one of your Sita Patimma’s sayings :’your prayers and your good deeds are like your Provident Fund. They are credited to your account in God’s books. They will come to your aid when you need them.’
Love,
Daddy
20/02/08
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