A tribute to my mother and superhero: Sarah Begum Kabori

On a quiet summer night early this week, when the world was sleeping, the nation lost a legend. Sarah Begum Kabori, the actress, politician, freedom fighter, and social worker, quietly slipped through the gates of eternity. Her millions of fans were heartbroken and an entire generation lost an icon to the senseless ravages of a virulent virus. Even the legend had to say farewell and the pandemic was her final curtain call.

But what the world will never see is the pain of her five sons losing their mother. I am one of those unlucky five, the second eldest. That day, I too joined the nation in mourning. In my mind, I conjured up a list of images. A long list of celebrities from all over the world who passed away, prematurely, to the utter shock of their teeming fans. All of a sudden, my mother too was part of that list. But when the noise settles, and the media has moved on to other stories, we will still be in disbelief that our mother, the towering matriarch of our family, was abruptly taken away from us. We will struggle to comprehend the permanence of this void. The absolute irreversibility of death. The lifelong impact of this loss.