Snapshot: The past was another country

This picture is of my elder brother Kirit Mehta, left, followed by my mother, our neighbours, my sister Nalini, and little Mayuri Shah. They are standing on the stairs leading to our home in the city of Kisumu, Kenya. It’s 1967, and my brother is leaving for India to study. He has a coconut in his hands, a sign of good luck in the Hindu and Jain religions.

We had a carefree, adventurous childhood in this beautiful city on the shores of Lake Victoria. At the age of 19, my brother is leaving us for a far‑off land and his smile betrays a slight apprehension of what the future holds. I was six years younger, and looked up to him – and knew no one could bully me while he was in town! He taught me how to ride a bicycle and I tagged along with him and his friends, much to his annoyance. Suddenly his childhood was over and adult life beckoned.

I remember crying a lot on the day he left. He came back after qualifying as an aeronautical engineer but due to the Africanisation policy of the newly independent Kenya there were no job prospects. In 1970, he left for Britain. In 1973, I followed him. Over the years we set up a successful business and remained close. He was always there for me, almost like a second parent.

In 2008, he had a brain haemorrhage, and we lost him at the age of 60. I was devastated, as was the whole family. It took some time before I could come to terms with his passing away. My mother and father live with me, and my sister lives nearby. The little girl in the picture is the mother of two grown-up children and lives in Nairobi.

My brother was a gentle giant who went well before his time. He was over 6ft tall and big – many people didn’t believe he was a strict vegetarian! His motto was “Don’t harm anyone”.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu scripture, death is like discarding old clothes and wearing new ones. The body perishes but the soul takes another birth according to its actions in the previous life. Eventually freed from negative karma, the soul enters the kingdom of God, thus escaping the cycles of birth and death. My brother was an organ donor and gave others life with his death: at least two people made a full recovery, thanks to him.

Nitin Mehta