I’ve known him since I was 17. He came over from India and we did our foundation art course together. The girls on the course couldn’t pronounce his name so the called him Baloo (after the Jungle Book character). Baloo is also Hindi for Bear and he wasn’t familiar enough with the Kipling story to make the connection and thought it was incredible that all these girls were calling him Bear in Hindi.
The first week we were there it snowed and he hadn’t seen snow before so he just spent the whole time in utter amazement. One day we were parked in a car when a lady friend of mine and her mum saw me in a car and came over to talk to me. When we drove off he was asking me who she was and she was asking her mum who that guy was driving me around. It wasn’t long before he was going to Russia where she worked and then they got married and had two lovely kids. Then her brother (also my friend) met my Indian friend’s sister and fell in love and got married and currently have six kids so I’m this honorary third parent to eight children.
I’ve spent the whole day with this really nasty knot in my stomach. Not knowing what’s going to happen to him and all these connected people.
Thanks for the good wishes.