Memories From The Life Of An Angel - Tribute To Lydia

Lydia Suzanne Thomas, who was the Kerala High Court correspondent of LiveLaw, had passed away on December 27, 2021, succumbing to cancer. Within a short stint of a few months, Lydia left a mark for herself in the field of legal journalism with her quick and crisp reports on complex legal issues.In the words of MA Rashid, Chief Editor and Founder of LiveLaw "Lydia was brilliant beyond her age. Although new to the field, her reports had the precision and perfection of a seasoned legal correspondent. She would have attained great heights in this field. Though extremely talented, she was down to earth. Due to her affable and kind nature, all of us felt a personal bonding with her. During the last few months, she had to take leave for medical treatment. During that period, she was not in a position to speak much. However, we were in regular contact with her mother to know about the treatment updates. A few weeks before her death, Lydia called me and talked a lot. She talked to my daughters and my mother as well. She was sounding very happy and joyous then. The news of her death came as a shock to all of us. Her untimely death is more of a personal loss for us".Advocate PV Dinesh, Co-founder of LiveLaw, shared during the memorial service at Lydia's funeral ceremony that she had a "magnetic personality" which drew everyone close to her. Referring to the numerous condolence messages pouring across the country from people who have never met Lydia in real life, he said that she could make a connection with several readers nationwide and that she will continue to live through her writings.Manu Sebastian, Managing Editor of LiveLaw, recollected that Lydia was friendly and witty and was extremely passionate about her work. "It is a great misfortune that I got to know her only for a few months", he said.This is a tribute piece for Lydia, written by her friend Anita Elizebeth Babu, who knew her from school days and was her friend at NUALS Kochi. Anita has included the recollections about Lydia made by her sister Deborah Thomas and her college friends Christy C Bose, Jagriti Sanghi and Suzann Dinu.******While sitting down to write a remembrance for Lydia, an overcast sky blended with warm hues of the setting sun, provide me a backdrop. As I type each word out, I struggle to make peace with the image of her sweet smiling face, lips curling at the corner, waiting to crack a joke about my writing her a memoir. Maybe she is shaking her head telling me how amusing a read this is going to be and how I should maybe not make it too emotional…Be it the raging pandemic and the non-pandemic-ally raging times previously, you'd often find yourself in an endless swirl of communiqués executed with caution, but there is that cohort private to you, that make up the feeling of home cumulatively. The kind of people you could virtually, sit down with in cozy pajamas, holding your knees to your chest, for a warm and easy conversation by a crackling fire. Lydia was one of those people for me. Zero judgment, friendly reminders to live and thrive ever now and then, genuine expressions of joy for every small achievement, constant leg pulling and witty banter.Lydia (to the left) from her childhood.Following are excerpts from her sister's narration of the person she was:"Lydia, now start!", used to be our cousins' refrain at every meal time. They wouldn't begin the meal without Lydia kicking off the conversation at the table with something atrociously hilarious and clever that would never fail to tickle everyone's funny bone - children, parents and grandparents alike. She loved making people laugh; and with her smart quips and witty observations, she could extract humour even out of the bleakest situations. Even when I used to visit her in the ICU, she would narrate her experiences interspersed with humour - mimicking the ICU staff who would holler across the rooms when taking bedside X-Rays, or their insensitivity in not bothering to talk softly at night, or catching the sleeping patient unawares while drawing blood. Although sharp tongued, she would also be exceptionally kind and polite. Even in her last days when both sides of her face were paralyzed, and she couldn't smile and greet visitors, and when her speech couldn't be as clear as it generally was, she would apologise to the nurses and visitors who came to check in on her - saying, "I'm sorry, but I can't smile."As a child, she used to jokingly say that when she grows older she would like to be an "eminent personality". And what might that mean, according to her? She wanted to sit in a room, filled with books, immersed in reading and knowledge, and make wise observations about the world around her. We've often had a good laugh about these pipe dreams… Thankfully, at LiveLaw she found a family, who cared for her, appreciated her, and stood by her through her toughest times and last few months of life on earth. Apart from writing, she loved music, light and colours. She was an avid...

Memories From The Life Of An Angel - Tribute To Lydia

Anita Elizebeth Babu

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