The Unsung Hero of my Life….

I am happy that during these Covid19 times we all take special efforts to recognise, applaud and thank a multitude of people – doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, sanitation workers, volunteers, police, armed forces, Pharma companies etc. The list is long but they all deserve the recognition and we should do more of this recognition even in the post Covid situation.

All of us have heroes in our lives who have played a huge role in making us who we are today. Have we recognised these heroes? Applauded or thanked them adequately? Not necessarily in public, but at least a direct private thank you to these heroes? The reality is that most of them remain unsung heroes. It could be your parent(s), siblings, relatives, friends, colleagues or could even be a stranger who helped you in a crisis situation.

Today I would like to share about one such unsung hero of my life, my brother Narasimhan (aka Nachi at home).

My brother has supported and stood by me every step of the way in my life. Through the good and bad times, during my trials and tribulations, he was always around without any expectations, without being judgemental, unaffected by my success or failure. There is nothing that I can’t discuss with him and we have discussed all important happenings. He is a patient and fantastic listener and rarely offers any advice, unless solicited.

Two incidents that I would like to share here :

1. This was in the year 1996, the year when we had become bankrupt. We had to shut down our businesses and creditors kept banging on our doors every day. We went into hiding and eventually had to leave Chennai to start our life afresh. Despite intense pressure on my family including on Nachi they never revealed where we were living, but kept reassuring the creditors that their loans will be repaid. It’s difficult to describe the intense pressure my brother and my sister-in-law faced every single day for a couple of years. Neither one of them ever mentions what they went through on our behalf to this date…
2. In 2017, my mother was in the last few weeks of her life. During an especially emotional moment she asked me to promise that I will continue to take care of Nachi even after she was gone, that we will always remain close to each other. It was an easy promise for me to make because Nachi means the world to me. She kept holding my hands with tears in her eyes and compared Nachi and me to Rama and Lakshmana. I told her that while I am definitely not comparable to Rama, my brother is much more than Lakshmana to me.

There is a not single day of my life when I haven’t thought about all that Nachi has meant to me .. his love, his support and untold contributions. While I have expressed my gratitude to him many times, this is the first public expression of my gratitude to my brother. He is a hero in my life. I love his resilience, his integrity and above all his fairness when dealing with everyone irrespective of how they are related to him.

Nachi, you are a real hero in my life! No word can ever convey my feelings of love and gratitude to you for all that you have been in my life. A true Lakshmana.

I am sure every one of us has a hero, or heroes whom we need to acknowledge, applaud and thank… What’s stopping you ? Go do it now!