Welayat Chacha, one of my favourite uncles. Always made me smile, even as a kid, when most uncles seemed boring. He was perhaps the only one I looked forward to meeting. 

Now the interesting story. I had pretty much decided to live my life as a bachelor, marriage was never an option. And he casually asked me about my plans of ‘settling down’. 

I immediately denied the concept to him. Then he put his arms around my shoulder and said, it’s about ‘Companionship’ you don’t need to have kids immediately or if you don’t want to; what’s important is to have a partner, who you can just simply talk to, she doesn’t have to be of the same religion. All you need is a friend a roommate! 
Though I wasn’t fully convinced at that point. Later when I decided to get married, it was pretty much based on that logic, that moment I was transported to theconversation he had with me at Chajjubagh.
He will always be missed and many memories will continue to live in my heart.