Zarine Khan - Remembered in Light and Laughter.

Zarine Khan embodied grace, warmth, and an unshakeable generosity of spirit. She lived beautifully, loved deeply, and left behind a radiance that will forever illuminate those who knew her.

- Nisha Jam Vwal

I woke up dreaming of her chatting with her, laughing the way we always did. She was telling me some funny piece of news in her quirky, naughty Parsi way. Waking up, I realised with disappointment that it was a dream - a dream of someone I don't know when I'll see again, or in what form. For a moment I was confused, disoriented at how - unbeknownst to me - this luminous guardian angel had got under my skin.

She had become a sounding board, a guide, sometimes even an advisor. Is that what a mentor is? For an ageless, timeless angel like Zarine, I never imagined there could be an end-she seemed beyond the grasp of time itself.

Zarine has been part of my life for nearly three decades - twentyeight years and more - yet even words like friend or family feel inadequate. There is simply no word vast enough to encompass all that she was to me. God knows when she became so deeply woven into every fibre of my life - the special sharings, the extraordinary moments, the big events and small ones. She would call to ask if I was unwell, or if Bluebelle wasn't well - that concern, the chiding to take care, that apnapan. Where will I find that now? In a transactional, upwardly mobile city of over-ambitious climbers, who will I simply stand and stare with? Who will I shoot the breeze with or sit beside in peaceful, companionable silence? It all felt eternal. It never occurred to me that Zarine could pass on.

She had such a youthful joie de vivre that it felt like "forever." Of course there is sadness - that's a given - but what troubles me more is the disorientation. I keep feeling I should tell her something, call her, ask her about something, fix lunch - "when she comes to tea I'll show her this, I'll ask her that" because we met often.