What I learnt from my uncle!

My family was extremely close to my maternal side. My mother had 1 sibling only who was her elder brother and he was extremely close to me. In my early years, I spent a lot of time at their house (where my maternal grandparents also lived) and hence I became very close to my uncle, aunt and grandparents since I was also the eldest grandchild there :)

My uncle played an extremely important role in our family as he was an exceptional uncle (almost like a father to me), an extraordinarily committed brother (to my mother) and a rock for my dad (in his formative years in business). My uncle was looked up to by; not just us in the family but several around him. But as luck and destiny has it, we lost him to cancer 2 years back.

Today, my uncle would have turned 61 years old and hence as a reflection of my memory of him and as a dedication, I thought of penning down, what I learn from the great man he was.

1. Be humble always: My uncle would easily be the most humble person I have ever known. He had several achievements like being the topper in his college in law, being extremely knowledgeable about equities and stocks, being extremely well read on politics and current affairs, but he remained till the very end; extraordinarily humble and down to earth. He made people feel comfortable around him which was outstanding.
2. Be helpful always: My uncle was not a rich person to have donated lots of money to charity but in his own little ways he was super helpful to people. Be it advise to people about business, investments, family problems, audit matters, tax issues or personal matters, he had an innate ability to develop trust and people knew that they could open up and share with him. On the yardstick of relationships, he was one of the richest (if not the richest) I have known.
3. Be eager to learn always: Even when he was battling cancer, my uncle never gave up his hunger for knowledge. He was super curious about what was happening in current affairs or in companies that he was invested in; and he continued to help and guide me with any matters I needed help with. That just showed me reality of how learning never stops until your last breath
4. Be available for your family always: My uncle was a huge believer in family and he spent all his time with us. He did not enjoy travelling, eating out but his idea of fun and happiness was to return home and spend quality time with the joint family. He would want us to extend our stay at his house, he would like his daughters to stay on longer, he discovered technology and through this other channel to stay connected with family that much more.

It is no doubt that his loss was huge and it cannot be replaced but it was amazing how we humans have this ability to influence lives with our small gestures and life style.

Happy 61th mamaji (uncle)!! You meant the world to me :*