You have run your race with honour…
It is very hard for me to say goodbye to this son of the Ashram. Kunjappenachayen was one of the first members of the Ashram. To say he lived and breathed his total commitment to the Church and the Ashram is to say less.
Kunjappenachyan has been in my life since I was born. Every month Daddy and Mummy would go to Sihora over a weekend. Daddy would live in Darshini with the brothers and Mummy would go to the ladies ashram in Sihora. As babies and little ones, we would stay with Mummy. During the day, when Daddy would be in Retreat in the Chapel, and Mummy worked in the Clinic in Darshini, it was Kunjappenachayen who looked after me. He was a part of my life. Years later when he met me, he told the Ashram members how he would take care of me, feeding me, making me sleep, and even on occasion cleaning me up!!! It was the same when my brother was born… he looked after both of us.
Through the years he worked tirelessly in the villages surrounding the Sihora-Darshini area - literally the heart of India. He knew the land and the people so well that he was as one of them, one with the land. His work and his influence will never be in vain as long as the earth exists.
Rest in peace dear dear Kunjappenachayen, rest in your Maker. We are all the poorer for your having left us, but you remain in the very soil and air of Sihora-Darshini, and I believe that you will continue to bless us and look after your flock…
