Taan searched for the meaning of life

Taan, 30, an accountant who was the only child of Ralph and former teacher, Sushilla, was given an emotional send-off with relatives thanking him for his time spent with them; singing songs and reading poems in tribute to him.

With strained composure as he delivered the eulogy, Maraj admitted to mourners that handling the death of his son, was the biggest challenge of his life. Taan, a scholar student and international business lecturer, committed suicide by drinking poison at the Hilton hotel on Sunday evening.

Investigators discovered that the 30-year-old had checked himself into the psychiatric ward of a nursing home in San Fernando, but close relatives took him out of the medical institution. Taan left a suicide note instructing his parents how to divide his assets.

"There is a search for meaning, and Taan was a searcher for the meaning of life," Maharaj said. "And in that search," he added, "Taan decided to do what he did," Maraj said. "And I feel quite satisfied my son has lived a fulfilling life even though he has abbreviated it," Maraj said.

Officiating pundit Ramesh Sharma told mourners, "We must never condemn a man for his weakness because we never know what will come. We pray for his soul that it rest in peace."

Flanked by Govern-ment Ministers (PNM) Ken Valley, Jerry Narace, and Rennie Dumas, Maraj thanked supporters for their outpouring of love to his family, without which he said he "would not have been able to get through this."

As he looked down on the white casket bearing the body of his son, heavily garlanded with daisies and red and yellow roses, Maraj said, "My son gave me the greatest gift, that is the privilege of fatherhood," he said. "He has allowed me to be a father — a gift that is unique. We had a very good relationship and although he has departed in this way, he did write a note telling us how wonderful we have been to him." Maraj explained to the crowd of mourners, many of whom stood crammed underneath a white tent in the driveway of his mother’s home on Christian Street, San Fernando, that holding the funeral service at the house, instead of their Gulf View home, carried special meaning.

"This is the home where my son was born and grew up in. And here is where I needed to be to get strength to go through with this," Maraj said.

Also in attendance were House Speaker Barendra Sinanan, PNM Member of Parliament Dianne Seukeran, and Radica Saith, wife of Government minister Lenny Saith.