Different colours have different cultural connotations.

Take red….

• In China, red is a colour for celebration and good luck
• In India, brides are resplendent bright red – a colour symbolic with purity
• By contrast, red is the colour of passion in Western eyes – quite the opposite of chasteness!

In most Canadian homes, black is the colour for funerals whereas white is for weddings.

Katy Perry in ‘mourning’

Whereas here in India, white is the colour of mourning.

Today was a day of mourning. The mother of a family my partner grew up with passed away. I’ve heard so many tales of the shenanigans these lads got up to while living in the same building. Still remaining close when the friend’s family moved.

That Mercedes car gifted on Christmas? This is the same friend… whose mother welcomed the idea of her husband’s beloved car going to my partner… as it would remain in the family.

I barely knew her… once we met while on an evening stroll by the water, close to her home. She was so lovely, clearly a woman with a generous spirit and a full life. Shortly after that she became bedridden and could barely speak.

Yet at her grand daughter’s wedding, she was very much there. The bed was brought to the wedding as she could not be absent. She was the matriarch.

And as I sat in the room while the pujas were conducted, memories of a remarkable woman shared, I saw the mark of respect shown in white.

Priyanka Chopra in mourning

While death is part of life and this lovely lady lived a long life filled with love, parting is never easy.

So today my thoughts are with my partner’s friend and family. May she rest in peace.