Our beloved mother Tanima passed away on the 28th of March 2013 following a stroke. She passed away in Kolkata, her place of birth, with her son and her brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces around her.

She was always a tower of strength to Sumi and I and our strength in every situation in our lives. The pride and dignity with which she conducted herself was second to none. Ma always had a strength of spirit which carried her through times of adversity. She never once complained, no matter what life challenged her with. At the age of 21, she faced her first challenge by marrying my father Kanchan and moving from Calcutta to England. Her second major challenge was when she was widowed at the age of 36 with two small children to bring up. Our father proclaimed that Mum was a tower of strength, and he knew that she would bring us up in a fashion that both he and my mother would be proud of. My mother's third challenge was raising both Sumi and myself which she did with unwavering dedication, sacrificing so much of her own life for us.

Her wisdom, her strength, her grace, her sense of right from wrong and her philosophical nature enabled both Sumi and myself to be where we are. Everything in my mother's life was conducted with that effervescant smile that anyone who ever came into contact with her would never forget. Our mother always had a stable nature, filled with planning what would happen, when, where, how, even to her last days. We went to India in February to celebrate my cousin's wedding. She saw all her brothers and sisters, cousins, nephews and nieces and other members of the extended family. We had two weeks of fun, full of love, laughter and enjoyment. Two days before she fell ill, she met up with her school friends and spent the day reminicing.The day before she fell ill, she spoke to my brother and I for an hour each, and also to one of her closest friends in the UK for an hour. Once taken ill, there was one more person she needed to see and that was my brother Sumi. Once she'd seen him, she felt at ease and ready to leave us, meticulously planning even her final moments.

We now have two angels looking upon Sumi and myself, my mother and my father and they are together, guiding every moment of our future lives. Both Sumi and myself love my mother so much and she'll always be in our hearts for as long as we both shall live. Love to you always, Ma. xx