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Saru’s Remembrance by Maya Jaypal
When I was first asked, about 2 days ago, to say a few words about Saru, I was horrified. I almost freaked out. I went through a gamut of emotions. I was afraid that I would forget what I wanted to say, I was insecure that I would lose my balance and stumble or falI: I was embarrassed by my fluttering hands whether they would lose my papers and make them fall to the ground.
But then all of a sudden, some lights went on in my addled brain no doubt ordered by Saru upstairs. And this is precisely why Saru has endeared herself to so many of us. There is an endearing and enduring trait which she has bequeathed as a legacy to many of us. She role models to prove some things can be done, in spite of our fears, in spite of our insecurities, in spite of our potential embarrassments, by first admitting to the core of those fears with honesty. And when you look at her life this is what she has done. She had many issues- physical (not expected to live because of heart defect ) medical, and emotional. But she met them all with a typical Saru smile, owned them, worked with them. Not confront, nor vanquish but collaborate with them so that they work together.
So, when I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease 12 years ago and my husband was at the same time diagnosed with dementia, she said to me: I know you must be reading google and you must have found out that you and your husband both have a maximum of twenty years to live. But I want you to know one thing: it is not the number of years that you live that matter, it is how you live that matters, with a will to not just survive but to thrive and in the words of another great poet Maya Angelou, with passion, with compassion, with a sense of humour and a great sense of style, which she role modeled with deep humanity and perfection.
- REST IN POWER, SARU
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