Indumati Sharma

On September 18th, 2021, Indu peacefully embarked on her next journey while surrounded by her loving family. She is survived by her husband Ravinder, her children Ritu, Rajeev, and Nisha, her siblings Priyavrat, Satya, and Dharam (Bavi), her grandchildren Nyah, Ashna, Zevesh and Ryka as well as countless other family members and friends. While we are devastated at the loss of our beloved Mom, grandma, sibling, and life partner, we know that her warm spirit will always live on in the hearts of those she loved. 

We will, of course, miss her dearly.

However, let our tears not be of sadness,

Let them nourish the gardens of our hearts,

Her seeds of love will flourish and give our souls strength,

Until we see her again.

A few words about Mom;
Mom was in the Palliative Care unit at the Nanaimo Hospital. She received lovely care and was essentially free of any significant suffering.

She endured gradual cognitive decline over the last couple of years which was understandable and manageable. However, over the past year or so she developed a progressive generalized weakness along with relentless weight loss. She underwent extensive medical evaluations, but a definite diagnosis was unfortunately elusive. In the end, she likely acquired a degenerative neuromuscular condition (eg ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). This is the same condition that affected Stephen Hawking. This often presents in younger individuals, but can less commonly appear in older age, usually with a rapid decline. It is notoriously challenging to diagnose.

This thieving condition silently robs a body of its strength, leading to crippling weakness and weight loss. It slowly chipped away at her mobility, posture, speech, swallowing, and even eventually her breathing. She faced these losses with a profound and gentle humility. Be it known that even while weakened, ALS failed to steal her sparkle and smile, nor her caring and loving spirit. She outshone ALS.

Mom's weakness progressed such that she was unable to remain at home, so she was eventually was admitted to the Palliative Care unit at Nanaimo Hospital. This was a near home-like environment where the focus of care was on maximizing her comfort. She and the family were blessed with compassion, TLC and the opportunity to face her fate surrounded by peace and love. Remarkably, she really did not suffer from pain or agitation.

Mom had an remarkably peaceful and beautiful death;

She was surrounded by family and her long-respected priest offering prayers (the Gaytri Mantra), which as you may know, Mom would have greatly appreciated. She was delivered from this physical world to the next chapter of her eternal story with grace, love and peace on Sept 18th. We could not have asked for a more gentle transition.

We are blessed to have had an amazing Mom whose enduring goal was to ensure her immediate and extended family and friends were always looked after. She only wanted us to be together and I know her love is filling us with hope and courage, compelling us to move forward.

We will celebrate her good memories, and her light will bolster our hearts and give us strength; she will illuminate the unknown path to face a life without her.

The depths of our suffering and sadness are in fact, part of a simple sine wave - The low nadirs of sadness are reflected by a height of love that she offered us all.

Appreciate your comfort, even from afar.

In lieu of flowers or donations, the family requests grieving loved ones to recite a prayer of their choosing, to help her soul transition onwards.

Limited in person funeral services and cremation will take place near this Thursday, September 23rd at 11:00 AM (PST),

Location: Yates Memorial Services in Parksville, BC which is close to Mom & Dad’s home in Nanoose Bay.

The service will be conducted virtually by Panditji Dabral.

Owing to COVID pandemic, the capacity for in-person attendees is restricted (50 people).

For the safety of all, we gratefully welcome guests who are fully vaccinated, and continuous masking and hand hygiene practices will be followed.

Please let us know if you plan to attend, although we understand that travelling here is not easy. It is somewhat far & remote, and there are restrictions and limitations in place due to the pandemic.

Guests who are unable to attend in person are welcome to join the ceremony via Zoom. Connection information is provided below.

We look forward to a larger celebration of life to be held in Calgary at a later date, when pandemic restrictions have lessened and we are able to safely gather in larger numbers.
We will inform you of these details once plans are made.

Thank you in advance for sharing this information with family & close friends.


ZOOM DETAILS:

Services for the late Indumati Sharma:

Date: Sep 23, 2021
Time: 11:00 AM PST (12pm Calgary; 2pm Ontario; 7pm UK)