Rest in eternal peace, Ghulam Rasool Malik uncle

 

In an era when we had just one TV channel and no remote controls, we consumed all available content including advertisements. The peppy and catchy advertisement of Campa Cola made it particularly attractive and an instant hit. I was around four or five years old when I had the short-lived joy of having my first Cola drink while we were on our way to a picnic. 

The fizzy drink perhaps cost a princely sum of Rs seven each for a bunch of kids. The ever-so-indulgent Ghulam Rasool Malik uncle was again there to indulge and buy colas for us. We could always count on the large-hearted and generous Malik uncle. We would eagerly wait for the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport bus from Baramulla, where he was posted as an industries officer, to pull in for us to get our almost daily share of Pan Pasand candies. 

I perhaps did my first set of writings for the Springer children's magazine (Kashmir Times Group, Jammu) on a chair-cum-desk he bought for his children, Umake and Misbah, as well as my sister Shazia and me. Malik uncle was central to our moments of bliss in our not-so-good childhood days in Kashmir in the 1990s, This included ridding pillon on perhaps the best mode of transportation middle-class families had then—the Lambretta scooter. 

This beautiful chapter of our lives began with a chance visit to Mishab, who was my sister's classmate, and Umake, who was in my class, at their home sometime in the late 1980s. The bond would blossom into a strong relationship between the two families that would become inseparable. 

The Maliks meant the world to us. Zubeida Aunty, Misbah and Umake's mother fondly known as Zublala, has been an aunt I never had. We felt at home at each other's homes than at ours until our careers took us on different paths and we lost touch. 

The guilt of having lost touch has haunted me since I came across Malik uncle's death notice. The notice left me numbed. I could not muster the courage to call Misba or Umake. I did not have the words to express my grief and more importantly an explanation for losing touch. The void his passing has left is too big to be put into words. How do I speak to Misbah and Umake about Malik uncle in the past tense? It has been a mix of complex emotions. Memories of our days together have flooded back since I came to know about Malik uncle's passing. You were central to some of the fondest of them, Malik uncle. May you rest in eternal peace! Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.