Rest in Power, Puneeth Sir.

And then, this is power
To leave behind millions
In the golden shadow of your generosity.
Tucking into the strongest safety vaults
Of our minds
The gentleness of your smile
The glow of your words.
Committing to memory
The warmth of your hello.
And trying so hard to recover from the cold steel of this good-bye.
A hard routine
We must master
We must learn all too soon.
Because we weren’t warned
That they were taking you away.
That you were loaned to us
For, but, a breath of time -
This inhale, never to exhale.

And then, this is power
To leave millions feeling
That we lost a brother, a friend, a mentor.
To want to imprint on the skies forever,
The words you said and
The ones you did not.
So that we may hobble through our days,
Knowing some of those words were for us.
That we were the privileged many
To know you and
Call you by your name.

And then, this is power
To leave everyone wanting answers from God.
Beating our chests to put him on trial
And get some explanations
For this unjustified act of taking you.
Too sudden. Too soon.
A lapse of judgement.

And then, this is power
To sleep deep in the embrace
Of a countless grateful hearts
Where a countless shrines with a
Countless inextinguishable lamps
Always hold space, always keep vigil for you.

And then, this is power
To set in motion a multitude of dreams.
To lead dreams with a purpose.
To define dreams with an identity crisis.
To shake dormant dreams out
Tumbling and yowling from the high branches they snooze.
Reminding us that we have work to do
Inspiring us to take the uphill
Giving us courage to dream.

And then, this is power
To be all this and more.
A million and more ways
To move everyone to tears, to joy, to purpose.
As easily as you danced
As simply as you moved
As gently as you powered
As larger than life as you ‘you-ed’!

Who but a Power Star
Knows better the workbook of living forever.
A star, forever - a star that guides.
A life that lived not in years
But a million other lives, empowered.

Rest in Power, sir!