“Lend me some strength from above”

Anirban Bora, it has been a while since you left on 1st May, but everyday feels like a year. And the 15 years since you first brought me here have flown past in a day.

Life was not easy for us before we were married. We stumbled through many years from that fateful day in 2001, when we first met in a Yahoo chatroom and became close friends who shared every thought every single day, until you finally came to meet me in Thailand in 2004.

The very next year, you showed me your India. Not long after, you came up to me and asked me the question that would change our lives, but you also warned me, “My work comes first before everything. Are you still ready to marry me?”

In a heartbeat, I answered, “Of course I will”. I told you that I was falling in love with everything about you – especially your work mentality.

Finally, we got married in 2006. Even still, you were always worrying about me – often asking, “Will you be able to live in India?”. My answer was always the same, “Wherever you are, I will be there with you because you will protect me. I trusted you through it all, and you remained by my side every day – always protecting, encouraging, and supporting me. Then at the end, you would say, “I am so proud of you”.

The best memories I have of you will always be from the first time you brought me here. I had a lot to learn about this country that is so full of culture and history. The people, weather, language, food – it was all new to me. We came from two very different worlds but I was never scared to come and stay here knowing you were by my side to keep me safe and happy.

Sure enough, once we were married, it took me some time to adjust to my new life. You watched me through all of it, and felt that something was missing from my life. And so, one day, you bought some canvas, some colors and all kinds of supplies – it was then that you encouraged me to draw and paint, also going on to put up my work in exhibitions that same year. You were the winds beneath my wings.

And the next year, I received a job offer. We both knew instantly that working in an office in India would be one of the biggest challenges I would face. I could see you were worried for me, and still your support and belief in me were unwavering.

We had plans of growing old together, and big dreams of opening a restaurant after retirement – the restaurant that would be a fusion of Thai and Indian just like us. Every weekend, you would invite a friend to our house to eat – and every time your eyes would light up with pride when they start talking about my cooking.

I know you were always proud of me – just as much as I was proud of your hard work, your illustrations and cartoons, and your passion for drawing. You have wanted to be the best cartoonist in the world since the first time I got to know you. I watched you grow, and I believed you could do it. Even today, I know that wherever you are, you are still striving to be the best.

And yet, ever since that day, things will never be the same again. You have left for somewhere, with so many dreams left unfinished.

The dreams we shared – I ask myself, how I can ever fulfill them without you. I find myself asking you to lend me some strength. If you can give me this much, then I promise to be stronger and to try my best to fulfill your dreams.

Until I meet you again, you will be forever in my heart.

I miss you every single minute.