I met her just once but I owe at least a small part of the good times of the past year and a half to her touch. When she told me about her illness a few months ago, may be it was the insulating nature of the chat window that stopped me from comprehending the enormity of the news. But then a few days later, someone nudged me and I understood. And I froze.

Then for a couple of months after that, I could not pick up the phone to call her, wondering if a mere hello from her would make me choke. Instead every time I saw her online, we chatted for a little bit about music, her blog posts and the state of the blogosphere.  And I never did ask her the “How are you” question, fearing that I might set her thoughts to where they shouldn’t be.

Then in June, I picked up the nerve to call her. I spoke to her and the first thing she told me was how bad she felt that the Woodlands, where we had met in January last year, had closed down. We spoke for a few minute and my prepared script and the PJs that I had rehearsed all evaporated. I think speaking to her that day changed me. I’d like to think that some of her demeanor rubbed off on me and that has helped me through some personal issues that I have had to face since then.

Since that day in June, it has been Kalyan’s emails that kept us all in the loop. So on Sunday night, I was pleasantly surprised to get a couple of text messages from her. I called Kalyan to confirm that it was indeed her and he filled me in. And this morning, I heard from her sister Triveni that she was no more.

Even though it has only been a couple of years since I have known her, it feels like I have lost a lot with her passing. She touched everyone in her own inimitable ways and none of us will ever forget her for that.

In June, when Triveni told me that she was looking for some older movies for Lali to watch, I sent a few older movies from my collection, movies that I knew that she would enjoy.  I hope she got a chance to watch them, because that means that I gave back to her at least a little bit of the joy that her friendship has induced in all our lives.

Rest in peace, Lali. May your larking continue in heaven…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 9:48 am and is filed under Personal.