I first met her and Cousin Rajiv, in the mid eighties. Cousin Rajiv and I had a common great grandfather. Then a few years later, she and her mother, Mrs. James visited my husband's father and us in Hyderabad. It's only when we came to Bangalore after many decades that I met her in early 2013. Aruna or Aunt Aruna as she insisted to be called, was a large hearted personality whom you could never forget. Her warmth and engaging observations could keep you in splits! She invited us to her birthday party which overflowed with old world charm in her lovely apartment at Belvedere Court. She told us about the farm she had in the outskirts and we did an impromptu picnic there on Baisakhi!
We had discovered that Aunt Aruna and I passed out from the same school albeit a generation apart! We planned to go for its 150 year celebrations in May 2016 but by January we knew that we couldn't make it, so we found other school mates and had an old school reunion at my place, with fun and laughter!
After her birthday this year, I met her again in end February and she was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. She seemed to recover in March, April and May but it was obvious she wasn't going to make it to Hyderabad for my daughter's wedding. When we left for Hyderabad, the very next day we heard that she had passed away.....how sad it was.
Aunt Aruna was a gracious, benevolent, caring, loving and a big-hearted lady and it will be hard to fill that gap!
It is a lovely farm with painted tiles on the roof.....handpainted by Aunt Aruna and her family. We had a relaxed time there. Lots of fruit trees and far from the madding crowd!
Being a family person, she loved to have family gatherings and once came to have dinner with us, armed with old family tree documents. We discovered that her father was the son of Sophy Hira Singh's brother. Sophy Hira Singh was my husband's great grandmother. Aunt Aruna came from a strong Punjabi heritage of the Christian families of Punjab in the 19th and 20th centuries! From her mother's side she was a Ralliaram and from her father's side, the Hira Singh family. So she was doubly related to me through her husband and then through my husband's family!
Our Christmas gatherings were incomplete without her and what a great time we would have with her and her rendition of "O Holy Night".
We had discovered that Aunt Aruna and I passed out from the same school albeit a generation apart! We planned to go for its 150 year celebrations in May 2016 but by January we knew that we couldn't make it, so we found other school mates and had an old school reunion at my place, with fun and laughter!
After her birthday this year, I met her again in end February and she was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. She seemed to recover in March, April and May but it was obvious she wasn't going to make it to Hyderabad for my daughter's wedding. When we left for Hyderabad, the very next day we heard that she had passed away.....how sad it was.
Aunt Aruna was a gracious, benevolent, caring, loving and a big-hearted lady and it will be hard to fill that gap!
