Revathy Gopal: RIP

``I could Invent a Religion`` is in my view her epitome. I feel CHOWK owes her a feature on the FP, preferably written by another chowkie who knew her personally. May God Bless her in his infinite Mercy.
Rest in Peace

Sad news indeed. My sincere condolences to Revati`s family. May her soul rest in peace.

Chowk is a big family, though we do not by and large, know each other personally. Many are acccomplished writers, and yet are anonymous.

Revathy was one of the few writers on chowk who wrote for the pleasure of writing, rather than to belittle anyone.

I shared Revathys views about god and religion, and remember what she wrote in support of one of my articles a little more than a year ago:
http://www.chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00005969&channel=civic%20center&threshold=1&layout=0&order=0&start=250&end=259&page=1#33


Bravo, Mr. Parthasarathy. I applaud your courage and frankness in saying what many people probably feel but are too timorous to say out aloud. Humanity as a whole seems to have lapsed considerably into tribalism instead of bringing barriers down crashing and seeing the strong common threads that hold us all together. What boring gods we have created! Little better than the angry old men of the tribe, gods who are petty and vengeful, gods who have created a violent, unjust world.

The word `religion` stinks, but let us admit that man and his need for transcendance have created great art, great literature, great music. Think of the wonders of temple architecture, great Islamic mosques and the cathedrals of Europe that soar towards the sky! Such a pity that they do not house gods worthy of them.

reva315


We need more brave people like you, Reva!
Rest in Peace

I just wish to post my old post from Revathy`s article about her breast cancer................

I am extremely sad and reading all articles by her.

In the memory of Revathy.

[[Dear writer:

Very well placed article. You have done an excellent job of putting together all pieces of tragic journey of this disease, called breast cancer.

The human sufferings and toll of this disease is enormous. In USA , every 9th out of 10 women is diagnosed with breast cancer and every day a woman is diagnosed and dies from this disease.Men can also be inflicted by breast cancer and their disease is less responsive to therapy and more catastrophic. Breast cancer can kill young, old, men and women at a rate which is unbelievable.

Thanks to modern day therapeutic techniques, we are seeing so many cancer survivors...........

Speaking of survivors, you can call them survivors, champions in the fight against cancer or simply winners over cancerous deaths.

I have met hundreds of survivors with their amazing stories who are dealing with this disease optimistically with the will to live guided by their spirits. I always see thankfulness in their eyes as if they are more thankful to live, as if they value their lives more than others. And almost all of them are living with a new hope, a new light to shine their lives, they are healthier than others in the sense that they take care of their selves more and they have learnt a lesson, no matter what, life is a gift from GOD, don`t waste it........

Thank you for sharing with us your journey...................

On side note:-

“I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God”
Helen Keller quotes]]

May She rest in peace. I am sure she will live on through that which she has added to our common human compendium with her beautiful pieces.

Kind of reminds me of the immortal words of the song Big Yellow Taxi :

Don`t it always seem to go
That you don`t know what you`ve got
Till it`s gone

Dear Revathy:

I want to say so much, but it is too late. You were the first person who came out and stood by me. I did not know you. I demanded pieces...remember the profile on Jayalalitha that you sent in at super-fast time? Then there was a pause. Wake up, I asked, and very gently you asked me to wait…I wondered why. Till I opened the attachment that accompanied your, as always, vivacious note, “Here it is, as ordered”. It spoke about your cancer.

It is rare to feel any guilt as a professional but I was in tears. I found your telephone number that was there with an old piece.

“How are you now?” I asked, rather foolishly, knowing that you were going through chemotherapy. And you said, “Surprisingly good.” I believed you. You said, “Come over for lunch or dinner…” I did not wish to trouble you. Then you gave me the bait of “South Indian coffee”. I waited for you to get better.

Even through my hiatus, we continued talking. “Why are you doing this?” was all you asked. You understood without my explaining. It did not matter to you. We had connected. You sent me books. I don’t do this often but I called you at regular intervals. It used to be tea-time, I remember. You sometimes sounded tired, just sometimes. Then you were leaving for London. “I’ll call you when I get back and then you have to come over,” you said.

I waited. I did not call. Wasn’t sure. Thought you were well…you did say you wanted to start some editing work, which could be done from home and which would not take up too much effort. I thought you were busy. I thought….why did I think so much?

Is this sounding treacly? But you told me I should not bother, just surge ahead. So, yes, Revathy, I just spoke to Gopal, your husband, partner and fellow writer. He said you were fond of me, that we shared our values and ideologies. I know you were a rational person. But just this once why don’t you believe in an afterlife?

I am still greedy. I want my coffee. And I still want to read you.

Love always,
F

May her soul rest in peace!

That was SAD.

my condolenses, may her soul rest in peace

I also lost a close member of my family to cancer recently and I can imagine the pain the family is undergoing right now. There are certain things that are beyond our human comprehension and there is no alternative but to accept them.

May God give her family the courage to face this difficult time.

Rest in peace, departed soul.

May she rest in peace, and may God bless her soul.

My heartfelt condolences to her family. May God bless them with courage and strength to carry on.

Ameen.

Ally
xxx

Frazana, could you post Gopal`s Tele Number.
Thanx

As a person, Revathy Gopal indeed seemed to be a gem. May she find peace and grace in the eyes of God Almighty.

RIP

I have been in a quandary since this morning as to how to offer condolences. Though I really want to ....

I mean ... what can I say?

Other people are offering `God Bless her Soul` (?) , `Rest in Peace` (?), Peace and Grace in the eyes of God Almighty` (?); But to whom are they saying that? She is DEAD. She isn`t hearing any of it. She didn`t believe in anything of the silly stuff all are saying. So why`re people saying all this? Are they being condescending? Why?

It doesn`t matter for her anymore. Hers to her belief was just an organism which lived its natural life and came to an end. That`s all. So what`s the big deal in saying all these things to supposedly comfort her? Rather, isn`t that going against her own wishes?

I will say the appropriate thing. She will be missed. That`s all. Don`t even bother with flowers. She won`t see them.

....excepting Farzana of-course who addressed her post to HER and said ``But just this once why don’t you believe in an afterlife?

... Well Farzana .. you seem sure she`s reading this. Actually, I know she is. So that must be something of an eye opener for her ....