What Harry’s friends had to say

Today I say goodbye to a best friend, a brother. The events that lead to the tragic loss of Harry, I can only describe as surreal and heartbreaking.

My earliest memory of Harry was from the age of around 8, when he came to my house with his parents and he wore that famous black leather tie and pink shirt, with us both running around shouting sizzling sausages !! I have shared some amazing times with Harry. Before Harry went to Uni it was always Harry, Rodders and myself, always together day in day out. He once said if you put us three together you’d get dumbo the elephant with his big nose, my big ears and Rodders big belly!!!

We would entertain our folks with off the cuff sega singing, with me on the ravanne, and Harry belting out the songs, the start of his rise to his singing career !! Our times at club Icini, trips to Europe, holidays to mauritus when we were young teenagers and a few years ago with our young family, priceless memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I want us all here to celebrate the wonderful life of this amazing, sincere, dear friend of mine. A model father, loving brother, loyal husband and cherished son who has left a void in our lives that will never be filled. RIP my brother, love always and forever.

I would like to read out a poem which my son Teyan wrote in memory of his uncle Harry..

One Special person who was kept in our hearts,
Was so suddenly swallowed whilst playing his part,
A few tears were shed but then we were strong.

We never expected this to happen to someone
amazing and wonderful as uncle Harry krish

But then we think of all the good times we had
And all the crazy parties that were a little bit mad

Thank you Uncle Harry or being so great
My Dad could never ask for a better mate.

Yogen Karuthasami

Rodney Herkanaidu

Hello everybody.

I am Chandrin and this is Simon. We doubt that there are another two people in this world that Harry enjoyed taking the mickey out of more. We always tried to get our own back, but something tells us that he would have paid good money to see us two standing up here today. It looks like he got the final laugh at our expense.

We are here today because we have the honour and the privilege of being asked to say a few words about Harry on behalf of his friends from school, Hertfordshire and his band. A circle of friends that has got bigger and bigger as we’ve got married, had kids, and got to know friends of friends. But each and every one of us, no matter how long we’ve known Harry for, loved him. And we knew that he loved us.

It’s really hard to say only a few words about Harry, to do justice to what he meant to all of us. We asked everyone to share their thoughts and memories of Harry and got back hundreds and hundreds of words.

So we’ll share just a few memories, but they don’t even scrape the surface. Some of us here have known Harry since he was seven, running round The Sacred Heart school with that famous smile, always cheeky and mischievous. And then he met even more of us at St Columba’s College where, because he was so bright, he excelled at everything he did. But he never lost that mischievous spark, painting Kapil Vaswani’s ears with Tippex every time he got the opportunity, and trying to dodge the Deputy Head’s wrath for some minor schoolboy misdemeanour, of which there were several.

When we were 16 even more of us got to know Harry. He became leader of a group that mixed the Catholic boys from St Columba’s with the Catholic girls of Loreto. The group was called Christian Life Community. I think to this day he is the only Hindu ever to have led a Christian group. But there he met even more lifelong friends, going to house parties, singing, laughing, drinking, getting home at 4am. He was always the coolest amongst us, the first to get a mobile phone, the first to drive – he was always the life and soul. There was many a Loreto girl who had a crush on Harry.

Harry made friends wherever he went. He was funny, spiritual, loyal, generous, caring and saw the good in people. He loved football, music, and film, but embraced new loves and passions all the time. He never stood still, he was hungry for more, to live more, to learn more. He truly embraced life and his achievements would take someone else several decades more. Harry had something in common with everybody. One of Harry’s most amazing gifts was his ability to be a central part of so many groups of friends, but make every one of them feel special. He was as comfortable bantering amongst twenty people as he was listening and sharing his advice in a deep and meaningful. He was always positive and he was always there for every one of us, in the good times and the bad. He wasn’t ever on time, but Harry was never ever ever on time.

We all remember the famous orange Volkswagen Beetle from our teenage days, because it was the car that everyone identified Harry with. Anyone familiar with the set-up of a Volkswagen Beetle knows that you can’t put a bass bin in the boot because the engine is there, so Harry had house speakers put on the back seat instead, and a stereo unit housed in its glove box. You knew if you turned up to a house party to find the orange Beetle outside it would be a great party – and they were.

Harry and I would only have a serious conversation when it came to cars, like if Harry’s Mother or Father wanted to buy one or if he had any motoring misdemeanours. He’d be really nice to me then. Talking of which…..

There was this time we were in Wales and we hired a large cottage so the band could practice. Three days into the trip we decided to go off for a pub lunch. On our way back to the cottage the tide had come in – where there was previously a road there was now a large mass of water. Trees had become much much shorter than they had been a few hours before. I did say to Harry that we should park the car – it was his mum’s car – and walk on the high verge back to the cottage. He said no, he’d seen how to do this in a film. He then proceeded to slowly inch the car into the water, and water came over the bonnet and nearly over the windscreen. Some short moments later the engine died and Aunty Mayil’s Volvo 850 T-5 Estate came to an abrupt halt and was no more. He turned to me and said “Chandrin, what do we do now?”

There are so many memories of good times with Harry. Everyone’s got them. A precious one has been stolen. A best friend I looked up to, a teacher, an artist, the leader of all the packs. His binding voice is now still. No-one can fill the hole in my aching heart. Instead I will fill this void with all the beautiful memories I have, and I have plenty. In truth, I’m lost without him. Harry, the inspirational one. A truly remarkable gentleman. For sure we had our ups and downs, but we had a strong friendship because we fought for our friendship. I cherish the 32 years of sincerity, genuine kindness, jokes, mischief, endeavour, thrillin’ and chillin’. I pray that your next life is more momentous than the one you have had. It has been an honour and a privilege to have stood at your side, Harry. I long for the day when we are altogether again.

For the past twenty years, we have lived and loved, sang and danced, laughed and cried with Harry. The nights out, the trips to various Unis, the stag dos, the weddings, the snowboarding trips, the gigs, the poker nights, the trips away….Harry was a central part of all of this. He was one of us. It just won’t be the same without him. We all remember how much Harry adored his family, how happy he was at his wedding, how chuffed he was to become a Dad and how proud he was to carry Taryn, Nate and Reyan in his arms. We all remember how devastated we were when Harry was diagnosed, but how truly inspirational he was in his brave and courageous fight. Despite the fear, despite the disease, despite everything, he fought. With positivity, humour and a smile on his face. Because that was Harry.

On Wednesday morning all of us here joined a secret club – one that you only find out about at the point of joining it. Everyone else in it makes themselves known when it is your time. You join it when you lose a loved one. When someone close to you dies. Those that it has happened to comfort you with words, with looks, with messages. They let you know. The support that we’ve all had through these past few difficult days is because Harry touched so many lives, had so many friends, had so many loved ones. Harry left a mark on all of us. He leaves a gap that no one can fill at all the future nights out drinking, band practices, snowboarding trips, stag dos, gigs, weddings, birthday celebrations…..But, despite how painful and difficult these last few weeks and days have been, we will celebrate him and cherish the memories of a great and loving friend.

Harry – on behalf of us all, we love you, we’ll miss you, and we’ll never forget you.

Chandrin Katuwawala & Simon Lodge