Shanti

Our neighborhood said goodbye to a quiet, humble man with an overwhelming outpouring of appreciation and respect. A crowd of 300 or more first gathered at Hamilton Park and then walked to Kiritkumar Parikh’s grocery store on 7th and Coles streets, filling the street in a massive manifestation of grief and defiance. Parikh was shot and killed in an apparent robbery this week.

Kids from McNair Academic High School and residents of this diverse neighborhood laid flowers and candles at the storefront, quietly expressing condolences to the family and hugging one another, many of the kids shaken by the nearness of death. For some, probably their first encounter with mortality. You could see it in some of their faces, serious and chilled.

I watched as the street scene unfolded and was cheered a bit by the fact that so many people actually cared enough about the guy who owned the deli down the street to show up on a frigid Friday night to say goodbye and to show his family that they were not alone. We all affect one another in so many ways that we don’t ever know. I wondered if Kiritkumar Parikh knew how much he meant to his neighborhood. I hope that his daughters now know and can take some comfort in the fact that we grieve with them tonight.

Hundreds say goodbye to Kiritkumar Parikh