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—
Reeva stood onthe stage of the local crematorium, looking out at a sea of white. It was the norm for Buddhist and Hindu funerals in the east, and though they hadn’t quite managed it forher dad’s funeral, she was glad they had for Satya Auntie; it was so much more hopeful than black. She looked at the front pews decorated with paper flowers. Satya Auntie was against using real flowers—she didn’t like the idea of killing living things—so the sisters and the twins had spent the last few days cutting flowers out of recycled paper. It looked beautiful. Almost better than real flowers, and more touching because those paper creations were made with pure love. And paper cuts.
Reeva smiled down at her family, sitting in those very pews. MJ and Saraswati in matching cream suits; her sisters and their daughters; Nick dressed in a white linen trouser suit with a T-shirt underneath; Lakshmi, next to him, in a white wrap dress. The only missing member was Fluffy Panda, whose white patches would have worked perfectly with the dress code, but cats weren’t allowed into the crematorium. Reeva had checked.
She looked at the open casket in front of her and winked at her aunt. She was also dressed in white—a simple cotton sari—and was rocking the Buddhist nun–meets–Britney hairstyle that Reeva had made her own. It was part of the last wishes she’d requested for her funeral. As was the fact that Reeva was standing on the stage about to do a speech.
“Hi, everyone,” she said, looking up at the crowd. “I’m Reeva Mehta, and Satya Auntie was, as you can guess, my auntie. I only had the pleasure of knowing her for the last two hundred and forty-one days, but the truth is, they’ve been the best two hundred and forty-one days of my life. Though that doesn’t mean they’ve been the easiest. Especially the first thirteen.” She heard a snort of agreement from Sita. “But if Satya Auntie taught me anything, it’s that life is worth living because ofallthe things that happen, the badandthe good. Because we need both. If things are just good, we start to get arrogant and feel superior,and we don’t even notice that they’re good. We need the bad stuff too, to take us back down to reality and teach us humility, mercy, and most importantly, compassion. For ourselves and for others. Because we’re all in it together, and no matter what people’s lives look like on the outside, we all get our share of joy and pain. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Satya Auntie taught me to live. She taught me to accept everything in life—from loss, grief, and pain to love, laughter, and happiness. She helped me learn to speak my truth, not in a wanky way... Uh, sorry. She taught me not to care so much about what people think and to be honest about how I feel. It sounds so simple, but for most of my life, I didn’t know how to do that. Until now.
“Which is why I can stand here and say honestly that my heart is breaking to have lost Satya Auntie.” Reeva’s voice caught, and the inevitable tears started to slide down her cheeks. But she let them fall as she carried on speaking. “I love her so much. She became my best friend as much as my family. Though lately I’m starting to realize the two are pretty much interchangeable.” She grinned down at her sisters and Lakshmi. “Her wisdom has completely changed my life. I used to call her the Satya Lama because she was so wise. Part of me hates that I got less than a year with her. It makes me furious. But the other part of me—that part that’s trying to be more like the Satya Lama—is just so grateful I got to know her. Because not everyone gets two hundred and forty-one days with such a special person.
“The way she lived her life has taught me to follow my own path and do what’s right for me rather than constantly aim for more. I’m learning to ditch my expectations of everything and everyone in favor of just being right where I am.” Reeva paused for a second. It still took her a moment to work up the courage to share something vulnerable—but she always got there.“Sometimes I do feel a little lonely because I haven’t got married or had kids like my sisters, in the way that society expects, but then I remember that my path is my own. I can’t control anything, and life will happen for me the way it’s meant to. All I can do is surrender. And no matter what happens, I always have the choice to enjoy the ride, stop stressing so much, and relax into my reality. I’m starting to sound like her, aren’t I?” Reeva laughed through her tears as her family nodded emphatically.
“Anyway, I know we’re here to speak about Satya Auntie, but I feel like I should also say something about my dad, because if any of you were at his funeral, you’ll know I didn’t do such a great eulogy for him. So I just want to say thanks for bringing us all together, Dad. I’m so sorry we didn’t get to know you in life, but in death, you’ve done so much for us. You brought me and my sisters back together, you helped me stand up for myself, and you gave us the imperfect perfection that was Satya Auntie. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be the family that we are today. So thank you. And please take care of Satya Auntie wherever you both are. Though, if your relationship with her was anything like the one we all had with her, she’ll probably be the one taking care of you. Thanks, everyone.”
—
“Darling, you didso well,” cried Saraswati as she flung her arms around Reeva and air-kissed her like the Bollywood royalty she was born to be. “We were in floods.”
“Thanks, Mum,” said Reeva, flattening herself against the wall as the twins raced past her into the crowded house, brandishing cucumber sticks. “It was definitely an improvement on the last time.”
“I wish I’d seen that one too. Sounds like it was worthy of one of my films.”
Reeva laughed. “Yeah, one of those tragedies where everything goes wrong and the audience sobs the whole way through.”
“Well, I’m proud of you,” said Saraswati. “And so is my therapist. We think you’ve come such a long way. You’re finally standing in your light and not letting your sisters walk all over you.”
“Uh, thanks?”
“And it’s lovely to see you so happy with Nick. But I’m mainly just proud of you for being so strong. Your aunt would be proud too.”
Reeva put a hand to her heart. “Mum. That’s... so nice of you. Thank you.”
“Well, you always were my favorite.” Her mum’s eyes twinkled. “Don’t tell the others.”
“Hey,” said Lakshmi, sidling up to Reeva while Saraswati began signing autographs for funeral guests. “Please can you pretend you need me urgently? I’m trying to escape Lee.”
Reeva raised an eyebrow. “I thought you guys were loved up.”
“Oh, we are,” Lakshmi said, smiling. “I had four orgasms this morning. But he still drives me crazy.”
“Sounds like how I feel about Reeva,” said Nick, emerging from the crowd carrying a plate of canapés. “Minus the four orgasms. Well, three.”
Reeva took the plate from him. “I’m taking these as an apology.”
“I queued twenty-five minutes for those!”
“She just did a killer speech; let her eat some samosas,” said Lakshmi. “And by ‘her’ I mean us.”
Nick shook his head in mock annoyance. “Guess I’ll go back to the queue.”
“He’s so much better than Rakesh,” said Lakshmi as Nick walked away. “Thank fuck you got dumped for Jaya.”
Reeva swallowed her samosa. “I know. In hindsight, it’s thebest thing that ever happened to me. It’s just that there’s no way I would have believed it had you told me at the time.”
“I did. Constantly.”
Sita joined them and picked up a samosa off the plate. “Thank god you’ve got food. I can’t be bothered to queue. What are we talking about?”
