The person
More than a decade has passed since I met her. A tumultuous decade filled with a few remarkable highs and mainly deep lows. we never spoke too much with each other. However, the little we spoke was always pleasant. Not because we didn’t want to but it was just how it was. From the high I was in when I first met her, to the depths I plumbed over the years, she remained the same. Never once did I see even a flicker of any new emotion in her. She treated me exactly as she did from our first meeting.
If we needed any advice we just had to ask her. To me, if she felt something was right, it almost certainly was . She never offered any comment in situations where many would have tried to intervene or interfere.
I knew she knew of my problems as she quietly offered to put me on a prayer group or two. Just a quiet suggestion in a message she sent me on WhatsApp. I grabbed the offer. Yet, in person, we never spoke about prayer. If at all anyone needed to meet one of Kerala’s most educated women, from our community, you just needed to meet her. Yet, she never spoke much about herself.
Positivity
I always felt an air of positivity around her. She was someone who, in my view, saw everything that happened with a sense of equanimity. That was an attitude that was most enduring.
When we were facing any crisis and her opinion was sought, the response was always genuine. However, beneath the geniality was a tough and strong person.
Her love for family and friends was quite amazing. We all have friends and so we know how she felt among people she cared for. I remember when she went for a College get together, I think it was her classmates among her Cochin University MBA batchmates. She was as nervous and excited as a young girl.
She went far too soon. It was too shocking. There is an incomplete feeling in me because my last interaction with her was at my younger daughter’s wedding lunch. None of us had an inkling of an idea that she was saying her goodbyes.
I am so grateful that Reshma Abraham became a part of my family in 2014. I could not have asked for a better mother in law for my daughter Naomi. I will, in my own way, miss you as I move on in the last quarter of my life. May your Soul Rest in Peace. Thank you for being who you were.
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Very true Sunny. Reshma will be missed, she is gone too soon. She was the first batch of MBA from CUSAT and I the 10th after that. Even then I have heard of her being spoken of her. Later on she married my father’s cousin, and I became a beloved part of the family. I was very excited when Naomi’s marriage was fixed with Paulo as Naomi is very dear to me.
May Reshma’s soul rest in peace 🙏. She was a woman of substance.
Thanks so much Leah. Your words mean a lot to me
Thanks so much Leah. Your words mean a lot to me
I could truly soak in your feelings through every line. I had no real idea about the depth of her positivity and sensitivity until now. Interestingly, her classmate and hostel mate, who was also my colleague, was deeply emotional and full of praise when she first heard about the medical emergency Reshma was facing.
After hearing so much about her from different people, I can now completely relate to what you have written. Some people leave behind not just memories, but a certain warmth and quiet strength that continue to linger long after they are gone.
It is hard to reconcile with her absence, especially when someone seemed so steady and reassuring in the lives of others. But I am sure her memories will remain a source of comfort and inspiration for all her bereaved family and friends. May her soul rest in peace.
Thanks so much Joemonchayan. She was a special person