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It’s been nine months since Dev Virahsawmy, the linguist, writer, poet, playwright and pioneer in defending Krool as a national language, passed away. Unable to resist the urge to put her husband’s final days on paper, Loga Virahsawmy wrote a book titled The Language of the Heart. In addition to helping her deal with her grief, the book, which is not for sale but will be made available, has other purposes, as she explains below.
You’ve just published The Language of the Heart, which looks back at the last months of your husband Dev Virahsawmy’s life. Why this book?
This was a force that pushed me to write this book. When I was in South Africa visiting friends trying to mourn, the force was so present, the place so ideal, the support of friends so conducive to writing, that I put my feelings on paper. Writing this book went a long way toward allowing me to grieve. A lot of people ask me if I took notes while writing this book. No, I wrote this book in one sitting. I started with the Foursome and I couldn’t stop.
Is this a form of paying tribute to the people you share your life with?
The Language of the Heart It was a way to tell Dev how much I loved him and how much I still love him. Dev and I lived an extraordinary life. This year, we would have celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary on August 14th. In celebration of our love and the life that Dave and I had together, I told the story of his final days. It was a way to celebrate that love, our children, our grandchildren, and our friends. Dave loved me more than he loved himself. It was important to put it on paper.
What message do you want to convey through The Language of the Heart?
This book is also a way for me to thank the people who helped me and who were by my side during the six weeks of my journey from the moment Dev was informed of his cancer to his death. This journey was very difficult, but it was also a learning process. I learned a lot, about people, about love, about forgiveness and self-sacrifice. I received it all, and when you receive, you have to give back. For example, I was pleasantly surprised to find that despite his young age, I was able to receive help from Cédric Lecordier, who was ordained as a priest on August 4. In addition to being there for Dev and me, he provided me with great help, for example, when I had to lift Dev from his bed and bring him into the living room. He gave us a lot of love. In this book, I mention all the people I could count on during these difficult times. I believe that without my children, my three grandchildren, without these people, I would not have been able to continue on my path of mourning. This book is also a way for me to thank Dr. Vicky Naga, Director of Palliative Care at the Ferrière Clinic, who was always there for me. When I needed him, day or night, he was there. He didn’t hesitate to answer my calls, come to see Dave, give him prescriptions, advise us. Then, with this book, I wanted to break a lot of taboos. Start with the word “cancer”. There are still people in denial. I have an aunt who can’t pronounce the word “cancer” correctly, she prefers to call it “sa zafer là”. This word still scares people and makes people ashamed when it shouldn’t be. Cancer is a disease like any other. Just like there are still people who are afraid of morphine and confuse it with drugs. I can tell you that without morphine, Dev wouldn’t have been able to cope with the pain from cancer. Then there are palliative care. Many people still don’t understand how important they are. People prefer to blindly follow the advice of some doctors, send their sick or even dying parents to a clinic and spend a fortune, while palliative care provided in a clinic or at home can bring quality of life to people who no longer have this kind of care and have lived for a long time. It was important for me to show them what it feels like to be cared for at home, surrounded by love, and to die with loved ones by their bedside. I had to put all of this in this book, in a sense, to educate people. Initially, I had no intention of printing it. I wrote it down and sent it to friends and family. That’s when a friend said to me, ‘No, Loga, you have to print it. People need to know about this because this book can help people who have experienced trauma, pain, illness, cancer, to better understand their situation.’
Where can I buy this book and how much does it cost?
This book is not for sale because it is a very personal, very emotional book. But if there are people who feel they need this book to help them cope with cancer in a loved one, who don’t know how to deal with a sick relative, who don’t know about palliative care at the Ferrier Clinic, then I would like to give them a copy as a gift. I haven’t printed a lot yet. I give some to my loved ones, to people I love, to people who have helped me. But I would like to donate to people who really need it.
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