Rest in peace my friend. Rest in peace knowing that you have touched the lives of millions. Rest in peace knowing that you have caused a change. Rest in peace knowing your voice will forever be treasured till humanity survives.
You, my friend, were the scapegoat of humanity, you were the sacrificial lamb. You were the copper snake that was hung on the hill to whom all who ailed looked and found redemption. They ailed and were burdened in these times, by forces only we the disenfranchised privileged few of the world know of and experience. The forces that hollow our bones and the forces that weigh down our soul. The forces and the burdens, due to which many souls cross over to the netherworld long before their time. The forces that slowly leech the soul until the humans can’t take no more, and they then turn to do the unthinkable. It was then that your words and the cries of anguish emanating from your voice, guided them home. It was then that the ambiance of your creations was in harmony with the cries inside their heads. Cries that had the propensity of being turned into actions, actions that were often malefic. It was then that your cries allayed the voices in their heads. And the hand that was about to act, was stayed. You, my friend, were the ram that god asked for in sacrifice so that Isaac could survive. Each and every cry that came out of your voice was a rallying cry for humans who had nothing to survive on. The civilization had managed to convince these humans and demean them so much in their own eyes that they considered themselves to be inconsequential. They, all thanks to the ethos of the times we live in, lived a hollow life and the echoes of their thoughts were the only voices these humans had in their lives. And these voices, all thanks to the society we live in, were insipid, corroded, putrefied and felt incorrigible. The words you wrote and the voice that is your metonym, the cries that are characteristic of only you in this world, made these downtrodden believe that these incorrigible voices that haunt them are and can be, corrigible. The hue of the hate of the world felt pale when it was screened and filtered by your creations. You were the beacon for countless lives who lived a hollow life, and many ships that lingered in the dark turned to you and found their home. Rest in peace, my friend, knowing you were the saving grace of these humans.
You caused a change my friend. You were the exemplified reification of the words of the Think Different campaign of Apple when they said that the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. In your life you rallied people, you rallied those downtrodden, you rallied those outcasts, you rallied those lost causes. You rallied them and gave them not hope nor did you give them promises but to them, you gave a familiar face. You gave them an ambiance of familiarity and you made them feel that they could resonate with your creations. You showed these fallen ones who had nothing to go on that you too, faced the same tribulations, and you persevered.
Today, we face the fact that the face behind those words and that voice is lost forever. Today, we face the fact that you are no more. Today we understand that the reification of those words and that voice will never be with us again. Yet that is the fate of everyone from the moment they begin to exist. For from the moment we begin to exist, does our extinguishment begin. It is said that a sunset must be much more beautiful than the sunrise, for the sunset has given you the length of the day to redeem yourselves. For the sunset has given you the length of the day, to make life beautiful again. And my friend, when the sun sets on your sky, bask in the glory, for you have done a commendable job of redeeming yourself. The same, will be echoed by countless others whose lives have been redeemed by you and your presence.
My words, though dwarf in comparison to the mammoth that is your life and its achievements, are from the depths of my heart. Take these ramblings of a man who once sought a lot of his life in your works, to your heart, and indulge them. Believe him when he says you will forever be treasured by him till he survives.
In the end, I would like to echo the words of Sergio Castellitto from the movie Non ti muovere (Don’t move) by saying, “I don’t know where people who die go, but I do know where they stay.”
And you my dear friend will forever stay with us.
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