Naresh Farewell Speech Firstly I’d like to thank those for attending Naresh’s final send off today. I’d just say a few words about my brother. Naresh, AKA T, AKA Ninjaman. I mean seriously dude, ninjaman, you could have been more creative with that one! That was a terrible choice, but weirdly enough it did somewhat describe him, with his Ninja like characteristics. Naresh had his very own unique style, from the way he dressed, his jewellery, and his many different fasces of hair styles over the years. To everyone on the outside he was T, to me he was my oldest brother Naresh, head of the household. We had 10 years gap between us, and growing up we never had a father in the house, so Naresh naturally, without even trying assumed that position. Any decisions to be made, anything of importance to discuss, it was always ‘what’s Naresh going to say’. A small man in stature, but he definitely held a large presence, at least for me he did anyway. Always seemed very serious in his face, not one for much small talk, but below his very dominant masculine surface, Naresh was a big softie at heart. When he had, he gave. And when he didn’t have, he took :). Well that was his rebellious days, and many of you who knew him, Naresh was the rebel of rebels. Not many rules applied with him. But at home he was all about respect, know your place and act accordingly. His home life was full of ups and downs over the years, but one thing that was always clear is that he genuinely had good intentions. As he started to leave his rebellious days behind him, he focused on one thing, and that’s taking his place to look after his family, and that he did, to the highest standard. It’s not unbeknown to anyone that Naresh was a flash guy, he enjoyed nice things, and made sure he could provide for himself, and he did very well at that. He was your typical old school type of guy, he never did much talking, he was all about the walking. His mouth didn’t flaunt, his actions did. With the helping hand of his close inner circle of friends, and he never had many of them, he worked hard to provide for my Mum, with his own hands he made sure my Mum was well looked after and spared no expense at it. What he achieved in 5 years, most people won’t do in 25 years For me, watching how he carried himself, his work ethic and his mannerisms, that part of him became my inspiration. Being a whole decade apart in age, he was a father like figure to me, someone I admired, especially growing up, I always wanted to be like him. Having said that he also inspired me what not to be like, and always made clear that we would not go through and make some of the same mistakes he made, so both in a positive and negative way, he inspired me all round. He taught me what I needed to know, he advised me heavily and gave me the magic formulas to carry out what I needed to do. He talked, and I listened. Unfortunately over the last 3 years Naresh suffered from emphysema, and during these last few years we spent a lot more time together, I lived out the last few years of his life living with him in our family home. He put a lot of trust into me, he trusted me fully, and as many of you know, that guy didn’t trust a single soul, he didn’t even trust himself, so for me, that meant a lot, that meant everything. So thank you bro, I never let you down then, and I’ll continue to not let you down now. We had many private conversations together, and you always gave me clear instructions on how to carry things out in the worst case scenario, I hated those conversations, I never liked him talking about that. Always said to him things would get better, don’t worry about that, you’re good. But Naresh was a realist, he never shied away from his reality. The last year was tough, his health started to rapidly decline and it was hard to watch for us all. He took care of us, so in turn it was for us to take care of him, which my mum and sister did so well in. And he appreciated that so much, so thank you mum and Arti and Vishal. You served him well. Never forget that. He was in a lot of pain, and unfortunately he wasn’t living anymore, he was just alive. Almost like he was only living for us at this stage, which wasn’t fair on him. I won’t ever forget the morning of his last 24hours, that morning he saw me turn up in hospital just a few hours after the ambulance took him in, when he saw me, it’s as if he knew, I just came in after speaking to the doctor, to which she said to me, ‘I believe this will be your brothers last admission into hospital, so please call immediate family members to come and see him’. When I walked back in to the room he looked at me as I was stroking his head, barely able to speak he mumbled repeatedly, ‘am I going, am I going?’ And started weeping. For the rest of the day, until his final moments, those were his last words. I felt grateful and proud that his last words was to me whilst my mum and myself was standing with him. He saw out the rest of that day, until around 2am the following morning, Naresh’s soul departed this world. Today we lay to rest, a son, a brother, an uncle and a dear friend to may of you. I love you bro, you supported me in so many things, you were there for me and helped so much when my kids were young, they adored you and chocolate, I just wished you were still around to see them grow more. Just last month I was so happy when you messaged me saying you wish you could come stay with me in my new place, and no matter what you was proud of the man I’ve turned into. I couldn’t have asked you for anything more than what you’ve done and contributed to my life. You were truly like a brother and father in one. But in the end to God we belong and unto Him we shall return. It’s now time for you to start the next part of your journey. I shan’t mourn your departure, but rather wish you the best on your next journey. It’s been a long day without you my friend, and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. Rest in peace my brother. Love your little brother. Thank you