When this decade began, we had ended 2009 in an unsettled way. Feroz's father had not been keeping good health when we were to go to Chandigarh for Christmas. On Nafisa's and my arrival in Chandigarh , we had entered into the Christmas spirit with great gusto trying to do as many things and meet as many people in a short span of time. The days whizzed by. We were not sure if Feroz would be able to come to Chandigarh but he did make it because Nargis my sister-in-law very kindly came from Vancouver to spend time with her father. That allowed Feroz to come and spend Christmas in Chandigarh and it was a lovely family time, with carol singing, wining and dining and all that comes with Christmas with families. Feroz had to return to Hyderabad and be with his father soon after Christmas. The momentum of activities continued even after Feroz left for Hyderabad . We had a great evening of singing Punjabi Zaburs - a tradition of praise and thanksgiving in our north Indian Punjabi Christian culture! 2010 began for us in a remarkable way as we spent the New Year with some youngsters in an orphanage in Chandigarh and that was really fulfilling and meaningful.
The next day we got the sad news of Feroz's uncle, his father's younger brother who every year spent his winter vacation in Hyderabad from upstate New York . He was found dead on the morning of 2nd January in our Hyderabad home and though it was a peaceful end for the uncle, it was quite traumatic for Feroz as he was struggling with providing critical care for his terminally ill father and now was compelled to see to the last rites of his uncle, all by himself. Nafisa and I managed to reach Hyderabad on the 3rd even though flights were being cancelled in Delhi and Chandigarh due to the foggy weather and infact the Delhi airport was closed till the afternoon of 3rd January. It was a miracle that we made it to Hyderabad .
On reaching Hyderabad , we rushed to the ICU of Care Hospital where my father-in-law was admitted and it was sad to see him gasping for breath even when he was on oxygen. He recognized us and we talked to him, telling him that we loved him. It was a poignant time because we all knew that time was coming to an end for him. My father-in-law passed away at 11:40 pm on the 4th of January. As Nargis had returned to Vancouver , she and her husband Jaya had to come back now and they reached on the morning of the 7th. My other sister-in-law Yasmeen and her family came from Bengaluru and we had the funeral on the evening of the 7th. For us as a family an era had come to an end.
My father-in-law Diler Ahmad Shah died at the age of 91 years having lived a full and ripe life, with enjoyment and just the way he wanted to. Till a month before he died, he had been to church which was his custom for many years on Sundays and also he had come to hear me sing with the Festival Choristers when we sang at the Taj Krishna on the 2nd of December, 2009. He was involved with many organizations at the local and at the national level and left his mark in Hyderabad society. Many from the YMCA, different church denominations, the Hyderabad Management Association, the Hyderabad Film Club, the Hyderabad Cricket Association, the Hyderabad Public School Society, the Nizam's Trust, the Secunderabad Club and other groups remembered and paid tribute to him at his funeral. He used to participate in our church carecell which met at our home and would get involved actively in discussions. At one of them, he confessed that he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour as a young man at a church meeting in his hometown Lucknow . This is the blessed assurance we have, that we will meet my father-in-law in eternity because he called upon the Name of Jesus. When we face death on earth, it is only Jesus Who can bring us to our eternal home to rest with Him in heaven. How blessed is the death of a Christian, because we sleep in Christ and when we awake, we are in His Presence, absent in the body but present with the Lord, how wonderful, how marvellous!
As we begin this new year, this new decade and indeed this new era, we know that Jesus has promised us in Isaiah 42:9-10 - "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they happen, I cause you to hear. Sing to Jehovah a new song; His praise from the end of the earth..." As we enter into the new era, I believe the God of the Bible, will lead, guide and direct us by His Holy Spirit, as we sing His praise to the ends of the earth with a new song.
