2005 has been a roller coaster year.- A lot of emotional highs ( a birth and a wedding in the family )  and lows ( Bhabhi’s death)  and a sense of trepidation in between  The main event dominating our lives in 2005 was unfortunately the death of Bhabhi (Hitesh’s mum ) in July 2005.

As I’d written in my last letter, she had been living with us since October 2004 and left in March to go back to her house and look after Geetu who was due to have a baby in April. Unfortunately she became hospitalised on 2 April and was in an induced coma for about 10 days. At this point there really was no hope given to us and we were all mentally preparing for her to die but amazingly she recovered from this. She still spent around 8 weeks in hospital during which time Hitesh would go and visit her at least twice a day to lift up her spirits. Amazingly she left the hospital looking much better and at home she had started going to the temple daily and following her routine. She even started walking regularly to try and get her heart stronger but then one day on July 13 she just drifted away holding 3 month old Ishani (the latest addition to the family) in her arms. We are grateful for all the time that we had with her and particularly her amazing recovery which enabled her to play with her latest grandchild if only for a few months.

January had started off in our usual hectic style with work and all the children’s sports commitments. On top of this a group of us had decided to take up another challenge following the success of our moonwalk and the buzz it had created. This time we decided that we would organise a charity walk in July on behalf of shishukunj and 2 other charities.. The organisation of this started in January with meetings every fortnight and even more often leading up to the actual day. The walk on 3rd July was an outstanding success with more than 670 participants. To date we have collected more than £55,000.

The boys went off skiing at half term to Chatel – this time by plane so it was a lot more expensive and had a fantastic time as usual although it was bitterly cold and visibility was very poor. Following that Nikhil had a French trip organised by PGL (Parents Get Lost) which he thoroughly enjoyed and appeared to have improved his French as well. Unfortunately he came back with some skin disease ( I was convinced it was bed mites) and conjunctivitis  and so was off school for a few days. 

As Easter was early this year, we decided to take a family skiing trip and we drove to La Plagne which is now linked with Les Arcs. The apartment was right on the slopes (in fact Arjun and Hitesh used to jump from the balcony) rather than take the lift down  and the snow was wonderful. Unfortunately the boys have improved so much that they find skiing with us too slow and boring and so the last couple of days we just had to let them ski by themselves. Shouldn’t have taught them so young! The day that we left La Plagne was the day that Bhabhi was taken to hospital but all our mobiles were off so we only found early the next morning. The next few days were of course very traumatic seeing her in a helpless state of induced coma and we were unsure what damage had been done.

Hitesh’s brother, Harshad , Sandhya and Shreya came from the States and everyone spent the best part of the days in Northwick Park Hospital. It was a blessing that this is so close to our house so we could go and see her 2 or 3 times a day. Bhabhi’s illness ironically brought the family together as the evenings were spent together eating and chatting and catching up 

A week later Manish and Geetu had a beautiful baby girl, Ishani and luckily Harshad and family were able to see her before they left for the States. By the time they left, Bhabhi’s condition had improved and she was aware of everything and able to talk. 

Arjun had a Spanish exchange student come for a week towards the end of April and he reciprocated by going to Barcelona in May in between taking his Gujarati GCSE and had a great time there although I’m not sure he spoke that much Spanish as his friend’s English was much better!

Nikhil had another school trip in June – this time a WWI poetry trip to all the WWI graveyards and monuments – something he would have balked at if we’d suggested going on holiday trip like this! He thoroughly enjoyed this – more the company rather than the sightseeing he said.

July was by far the most eventful month – 3rd July was the day of the walk wonderful turnout, perfect weather for walking and all for 3 brilliant causes.– unfortunately Nikhil and arjun were unable to take part as they had got through the qualifying rounds of the London Heathrow Games and were playing at Crystal Palace. This is the second year they have represented Harrow in Squash for the London youth Games and they really enjoy the experience.

London had bid for the Oylmpics and whilst all the odds were on Paris to win there were some murmurs of London coming up from behind to win. We all watched the winner being announced on TV and were surprised and overjoyed to find out that it was London. There was a general sense of euphoria and pride at the news. 

However 24 hours later was another story with the terrorists bombing the tube and bus network, killing lots of people and paralysing the city.. After the NY bombing, London had always been on high alert and it was a question of when London would be the target not if. Still it was hard to believe and swallow and the question of whether I should be working the city surfaced again. The impact was even more poignant when we found out one of our work colleagues was himself injured in the blast (luckily he was in the next carriage) and another colleague’s sister died in the blast.

Unfortunately  or maybe fortunately we all get caught up again in our daily routine and in fact the next days things seemed to get back to normal – A sense of defiance perhaps from London not to get beaten!

On the Sunday, 10 July, Tony the boys’ squash coach had organised a 58 mile cycle ride from London to Southend (same distance as London to Brighton)  Initially all 4 of us were going to take part and in fact I was the only one practising, however having done the route in June , Tony advised me not to take part as felt it was going to be quite tough. So I ended up being their driver and actually looking at their faces at the finish line and afterwards, probably was the wiser thing to do. Maybe something to aim for in the future.

Unfortunately then on 13 July bhabhi passed away. All the support that we received at this difficult time was invaluable and made things so much easier. The sadadi and funeral were both sombre but thought provoking experiences and not a day goes by without remembering her as she had influenced all our lives so much including all the children.

Back in January Nikhil had applied ( been coerced into applying really ) and successfully been accepted for a 2 week summer University course organised by NAGTY at Bristol University. 

My sister, Bena and family had decided to go to Thailand and offered to take Arjun along who was only too keen if only to stock up on yet more shopping.

So Nikhil was whinging about going to Bristol at the end of  July whilst his brother was going to live it up in Thailand. However Nikhil had an absolutely fantastic time, (his choice of words , not mine ) made a great number of friends and had a taster for university life. Arjun had a fabulous holiday with all his cousins and also visited Cambodia.

In August , the day after Arjun came back from Thailand, we kept a big pizza barbecue in Bhabhi’s memory. We had promised her back in April  that we would organise this in the summer to coincide with our wedding anniversary and Hitesh felt that it was important to acknowledge all the support that we had received. We were on tenterhooks as the weather kept changing but everyone really had a great time.

August also saw the opening of the Oshwal Derasar, with a 10 day period of celebration. It was really wonderful to see so much solidarity in the community (probably one of the first times I felt proud to be an oshwal) and to see all the generations really enjoying themselves.  The icing on the cake was my parents getting the opportunity to do the opening ceremony on the dome at the top of the temple. It was a precarious ladder up the top but my mum was insistent that she would go up and up she went without any assistance. 

Not having gone away in the summer, Hitesh and I decided to take a week’s break to Sardinia, leaving the kids to fend for themselves. They were more excited than us and claim that they had a better time than us ! A bit worrying but the house was in one piece !. We had a  wonderful time – the weather was perfect and the sea was fabulous; we’d hired a car and toured the whole island which is absolutely beautiful.

As soon as we came back we got busy with my niece ,Seiya’s wedding. Lots of dinners and parties were planned in the week leading up to the wedding culminating with a beautiful Jain wedding ceremony. Being experts in barbecue pizzas Bena and I had been tasked with organising the pizza party and it was an outstanding success. – There’s probably an opening here if/ when I get made redundant from RBS

The annual middlesex county squash tournament weekend was scheduled on the same day as Seiya’s wedding and initially I told the boys that they could not enter. However, this was not considered an option by the boys, their coach or the County selectors including the  tournament organiser, and so I had to relent. James, the organiser was fairly accommodating and tried to arrange their matches after 1pm so we got a friend to drive them there half way through the ceremony and Beverley their coach brought them back in the evening.  It was all worth it as the next day, Nikhil clinched the Under 17 boys title easily; Arjun was in the final of the Under 15 boys but unfortunately lost in a thrilling 5 set match in the narrowest of margins.  

This was the first Diwali without Bhabhi and it was a little emotional but we kept a dinner at Bena’s house to celebrate Nikhil and Aasha’s birthday as well as Diwali. For Basto varas (New Year ‘s day ) we had family round for desserts – pancakes.

Nikhil spent his 16 birthday on a squash court playing in the SE tournament and getting through to the semi finals. Arjun lost in the first round to an England top 20 player but then went on to become the plate winner 

In late November I had a DNC and leproscopy operation as my iron levels have been low for a couple of years This was under general anaesthetic and I was off work for about a week recuperating. – time to catch up on reading etc.A month earlier I had also pulled my sciatic nerve so seem to be falling a little apart.  

Since September, the boys had been coerced into taking part in a dance show for Shishukunj (Baal Kala Darshan – BKD for short) . Arjun however had so many badminton and squash county commitments that he had to drop out, however Nikhil didn’t have as valid an excuse. However. they performed 3 shows in December in front of audiences of 700+ and the whole show was fantastic involving more than 200 children. I was amazed to see Nikhil so confident on stage (never been on stage before) and Arjun felt a little peeved that he hadn’t taken part.. 

Arjun however continues to do really well at badminton (recently came in the Under 18 boys doubles semi finals for Herts ) and also beat an under 15 top 20 ranked badminton player. 

Both also continue to play squash for the men’s leagues where their opponents are continually amazed by their ability and fitness.   

Academically both are doing well – Nikhil’s got his GCSE’s next year and the question is whether he will fulfill his potential or be satisfied with being reasonably ok . It’s difficult to make them do anything (they’re both taller and stronger than me ) but generally they’re fairly sensible. 

Nikhil’s completed his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Arjun’s recently started this. 

They both continue to represent the school in cricket, basketball and occasionally football and tennis. They also go regularly to Shishukunj, which both enjoy a lot more now since finishing the Gujarati.exams.

Hitesh continues to play golf regularly, coach and manage the under 15 Herts team as well as other  badminton coaching, chauffer the kids everywhere ( Arjun keeps reminding us to enjoy this chauffering as it’s only for one more year – after this Nikhil will be taking them both everywhere!) and in between carry on with the business.

Bena continues to regularly provide food parcels – mum and Dad are currently in India (my mum’s recovered very well after her heart operation) and so I’ve had to buy my own fruit and vegetables. Normally Kaka brings a couple of shopping bags into work and I get the comment ‘ I see the Red Cross has arrived!’

There’s been a lot of deaths concerning people we know who’ve been ill for some time , but recently we learned that Nikhil’s friend’s mum passed away . – no apparent reason, she was one of the fittest people you’d ever met but just literally dropped down dead. 

Both Nikhil and Arjun were quite emotional about this as they’ve know Niall since he was 4 years old. As I keep saying to them we’re all hanging by a thread and there’s no knowing when that thread will be cut off. 

So live life to the full, don’t have any regrets and remember to regularly tell those close to you how much you love them and care for them. On that rather sombre note I’d better finish this as it’s getting too long

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I hope that 2006 will be a peaceful and happy one for all of us and that all your aspirations and dreams come to fruition.