riki, R.I.P.; everybody else, don’t R.I.P.

i'm interrupting my regular posts for a sad announcement: yesterday i got the news that riki, a very nice guy i knew, passed away a few days ago. it took me by shock because of 2 things in particular: his age (he was just in his thirties!) and the fact that he seemed to be on his way to recovery.

to say i can empathize with his parents would be a lie. NOBODY feels the way a parent does on losing a child.

i didn't know riki well enough to tell you details about his life. in the short time i did, two things identified him very clearly in my mind: his constant cheerfulness, and get-up-and-go attitude. if not for the physical symptoms of the disease that ravaged his body, you wouldn't know he was suffering from constant pain and discomfort. that's the kind of guy he was.

i won't serve up the usual-and-obvious platitudes ("before his time", "too young", etc.). instead, i'll rage.

i'm ANGRY and so i'll ask ANGRY questions.

how did riki die? from throat cancer

how did riki get cancer? Paan P****g paan masala (a very practical and wise person told me to replace the all-too-familiar letters with the asterisks if i didn't want to be sued. imagine an ape being taken to court!)

how long had he been hooked to this 'death-served-in-little-doses-in-little-packets'? not very long (how many years, how many packets does it take before it gets fatal?)

was riki innocent? certainly not (he wasn't an impressionable child when he acquired the taste for, and got addicted to the poison powder)

who is responsible for riki's death:

the film stars/celebrities who endorse the product?

the ad agencies that make it appear irresistible?

the corporate/business people who market it?

the manufacturer?

the government that doesn't deem it a cognisable offence and penalise them?

the society that complacently allows all this to happen?

you and me?

all of the above?