A Heart Full of Sweet Memories

Life has always been a blessing. Blessed with great parents and amazing sisters whom we fondly feel to be our forever team. God had a little more grace to spare for us and decided to bless us not just with Appa (dad) but more guardians who came in the form of Appa's brothers. Every one of my uncles loved their nieces and nephews so dearly almost like their own. But this is specially made for our one and only Guji Periappa. You smiled a little didn't you after reading his pet name out loud? Guji Periappa is someone like that. Always brought us a lot of joy like Manuka honey. Even after the honey is swallowed, the sweetness and the scent lingers around for a while. Our Guji Periappa is indeed our Manuka honey. Just raw out of the wild but a sweetie delight to be around.

Guji Periappa can be easily described in one word; JOVIAL.That is all he is. We can't remember seeing him angry or sad. He was always teasing someone or playing with somebody just glazing their day with a little fun and happiness. Notorious he was.

Among a lot of things that Guji Periappa was, he used to pull this one funny joke that we fall for every single time when we were kids. 

He would loudly ask "Do you guys wanna come with me??! Do you guys wanna come??!"

Innocently, we would also excitedly respond to that with, "to where Periappa??!" 

"To the LOO!!" he would happily answer walking glacially pass us with a satisfied smirk that he pranked us all. 

Years passed and he continued asking the same question over and over with the same enthusiasm. But we all grew up and we would just laugh out loud without falling into his trap.

A little different from his brothers, Guji Periappa had his own style. He would never ever button his shirt all the way up. Two or three buttons towards the collar will always be unbuttoned. "Very hot la ma.." he would say if we ask him to button them. His fun-filled nature can be easily seen with the way he walks. It is not even walking. He would just sway around his hand as he happily tap us all on our cheeks as he walked by. He would hum some old songs as he seemingly "floated"  around the long hall of the house. 

As he aged, he started getting into smartphones and began using TikTok. Whenever he had time to spare apart from teasing, playing or talking to us, he would watch TikTok videos and show us very excitedly when he sees something interesting. Guji Periappa, just like everyone else got a little soaked into TikTok but he was always present.

Every time we visited Guji Periappa and Appa at their work site, they would fondly get us on the excavator or a wheel loader riding us around their work site. Those machineries were designed for only ONE person to sit and operate. But Guji Periappa and Appa would stuff of all one go and take us on the most joyous ride around the place. We would hold on to the seats and Guji Periappa's shoulder as he brought us around while shouting "Careful ma! Hold on to this side! Hold on tightly!" It gave them so much of stress bringing us on that "joy ride" but Guji Periappa and Appa would still do it just to make us happy. Some of our strongest core memories sparked from there.

Guji Periappa enjoyed eating at his own timing mostly in front of the television, unless if he had company at the dining table. He would fill up his plate with the food he needed and walk happily to the living room where the rest of us will be bonding. Many times, instead of easing his hunger, he would feed us all a mouthful of rice from his plate. He would feed every single child that is present in front of him. His hands were big and the rice would spill when he feeds us and it gets a little messy. But those messy moments are priceless and no amount of money could buy that.

Little did we know that one day our beloved Guji Periappa would be gone from us. It broke all of our hearts and his departure from us created a hollow in our lives. Nowadays, whenever we look at his picture or come across his video, our eyes glisten as a tiny smile forms. Guji Periappa will forever be remembered and missed by all his nieces and nephews whom he treated like his own. We are all his children and we would always reminisce and cherish his memories for the most jovial, happy-go-lucky, fun-filled and loving Guji Periappa.