I AM PROUD TO BE YOUR SONBy Invera Arjoon Wednesday, August 26 2009
The final funeral for the five victims the Mosquito Creek accident took place yesterday, when nine-year-old Sachin Maharaj, a student of Avocat Vedic Primary School, was laid to rest.
The service for Sachin, who aspired to become a pundit, drew a massive crowd which spilled over onto the roadway with police directing the traffic.
Sachin’s father Mahendra Maharaj left the San Fernando General Hospital to attend his son’s funeral and his tears never stopped flowing, as he clutched his heavily bandaged throat throughout the service at the family home at Tetoo Hill, St Mary’s Village, South Oropouche.
Maharaj, who sat in a wheelchair, clutched the hand of his wife Mala, as the coffin bearing their son’s body was brought in with a stuffed Spider Man toy and numerous Spider Man stickers placed all around it. Caution tape was used to separate his coffin from the mourners.
The crowd became emotional as a number of letters were read from family members. However, it was a letter which Sachin had written to his mother on May 6, four days before Mother’s Day, which he never gave to her, that left no eye dry. The letter, scrawled in typical childish handwriting in pencil, said: “Happy Mother’s Day, I am so grateful to have you as my mom, for you have truly taken care of me during the past years, no words can describe you.
“I love the way you do everything for me such as taking care of me and helping me etc, I am proud to say I am your son, your beauty and radiant smile completes my day and it is difficult to be happy without you.
How can I thank you for what you have done for me. Your beauty is like a thousand diamonds and your words always come true. No obstacle can move a son and mother away. Your loving son, Sachin (sonny).”
His aunt Vidya Maharaj told Newsday Sachin was shy and did not give the letter to his mother, but she found it two days after he died in his bedroom hidden in one of his school books.
Unable to speak due to the injuries he sustained during the accident, Mahendra wrote a letter to his son in which he said, “Son I miss you so much, I wish I could hug you one more time, but though we are separated in this physical life you will always be in my heart.”
His cousins wept as the letters they wrote had to be read by Pundit Ashook Maharaj as they described him as wise and caring beyond his years.
His cousin Meera said even if she called from a blocked number he would always know it was her and say “Yeah Meer”, while another cousin Priya said he was her protector.
As his classmates of the Avocat Vedic Primary School looked on with tears on their faces his best friend and seat mate Idries Abdul told Newsday he will miss sitting next to him when school re-opens.
The family said they are praying for Sachin’s brother four-year-old Darshan Maharaj to make progress as he is still warded at the Wendy Fitzwilliam Children’s Hospital, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope.
A family member said the boy remains in a serious condition but doctors have said he is conscious after flashing a light into his eyes and getting some response.
Cricketers Imran Khan, Navin Stuart and West Indies Players Association (WIPA) representatives Mark Ramkissoon and Suruj Ragoonath were among those who attended the funeral of Sachin.
In his address to the crowd, Ragoonath said something needs to be done in Trinidad and Tobago to raise the awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving and “we need to take the responsibility in our own hands.”
Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma announced a decision to have a memorial benefit cricket match, which he said WIPA was in support of. However, he was advised to wait until star cricketer Brian Lara returned to the country.
Sachin and his father were among a group which were on their way to the Balls of Fire cricket and football charity match at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, on August 15, when a truck crashed into the panel van in which they were passengers on Old South Trunk Road, Mosquito Creek, La Romaine.
