“Come back, boy. Doh leave meh,” were the heart-rending pleas of the mother of 16-year-old Shivnarine Manbodh yesterday during his funeral service at their Barrackpore home. Lynette Manbodh was inconsolable as she sat near her son’s casket, in which relatives placed toy excavators, as he loved excavators and dreamed of one day opening his own business. Manbodh was crushed to death after he was buried by tonnes of dirt at a construction site at No 2 Scale, Barrackpore, on February 25.
In her eulogy at his Rees Road home, Manbodh’s sister Hema Manbodh-Singh said she was the first whereas he was the last of four siblings. When Manbodh, fondly known as Navin, was born, Manbodh-Singh was 17 years old. “When he came to us as a baby he was probably the biggest joy we had in the house because of the age difference.” She said he grew up with older siblings in an environment with trucks, backhoes, old iron, grease and mud. She believes he wanted to follow in the footsteps of their late father and two brothers and become a backhoe operator.
Manbodh-Singh fondly recalled that while growing up her brother would take the butter kit to use as his truck and use anything he could find, including the spoons, to dig dirt. While he was not into academics, she said, Manbodh dreamed of owning his own business. Describing her brother as a loving, helpful and strong-minded person, she said her mother named him after former captain of the West Indies cricket team Shivnarine Chanderpaul whom she was “ecstatic about.”
Pundit Keeran Maharaj officiated at the service for Manbodh. Following the service, final rites were carried out at the Shore of Peace, Mosquito Creek, before Manbodh was cremated.