Accidents, terror attacks, bomb blasts, murder or a disease like cancer- such deaths have just become a piece of news but the turmoil behind it is lived by those who lose their people.

“1-2-3 he said and raced through life and jumped into space changing our lives forever. As if the almighty had said ready, steady and go," reminisces 77-year old Sudhakar Joshi, who plunged into deep emotional turmoil after he lost his son Abhijeet, a decade back. Ironically this was the time when this retired public relations officer needed people around him to give him the strength, but most his relatives and friends distanced themselves from him, says Joshi, who has penned a book in memory of Abhijeet and his fight with cancer. The book also deals poignantly with the plight of the family that actually lives the death.

"I had just lost my dear one, after the condolence days passed, I felt my near ones were also going away and that too because they did not want to hurt me by talking and asking about Abhi, which is natural at such times,” recalls Joshi. “Those were the times when I needed my relatives and friends the most. I needed their emotional support to heal my pain but there was a hesitation from both the sides. I did not know how to approach them and neither did they,” he says adding, “Initially I did not really give it a thought but as days passed and I met new acquaintances, I thought this hesitation is faced by everyone. While I wrote of Abhi's memories I also tried to write my experience after we lost him. That's when some of my close friends read it they said I must compile it into a book and I decided to listen to them.”

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