February 17, 2020 | Awake & Dreaming

I just found out that Sonam Sherpa (8 October 1971 – 14 February 2020) who was lead guitarist & founding member of Indian band Parikrama, died on Friday. According to reports, the musician, who was in Kurseong to record music for an upcoming movie, suffered a massive cardiac arrest.

Sherpa joined Parikrama at its inception in 1991. He remained as the lead guitarist in the band until his death. Sherpa was featured on CNBC’s Young Turks, a show focusing on young entrepreneurs. The BBC also featured him and his band in a rockumentary while on their Download Festival Tour. He took steps in the Indian film industry (Bollywood) by composing the songs and music for the feature film “Manjunath” a collaboration with Nitin Malik and Subir Malik (both from Parikrama). The music of the film received a rating of 2.5 stars from Times of India. Sherpa owned and ran Parikrama school based at Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi.

While not a fan of Parikarama (I just didn’t listen to that much of their songs) Sonam could really play on the guitar and he won awards for his blues & rock based playing. He will be missed.

How Have You Paid Tribute to Loved Ones?

There is a regional holiday, called Kartha Vavu, where you are supposed to honour your relatives who have died. Other than the religious shit that usually accompanies this day, the sentiments is what mostly matters. They make an offering of the food that the relative loved the best and, in some families, even alcohol.

I remember a few times in my grandma’s home and after their prayers, we had lots of big fish fry and beef and chicken because that’s what our deceased relative loved. Since those days I have lost a few people in my family. I honour them, without any useless prayers or rituals, by saying a toast when I drink rum or vodka and by watching a movie I know they loved.

Or even wrestling!

Prompt from The Learning Network at The New York Times