In memory of Pola Kyprianides whose loyalty to both friends and Akel was unwavering

A different kind of column today. A personal one.

Not so long ago, I wrote about Albert Camus and the absurdity of life. This came back to haunt me when the news reached me about the loss of a very special person in my life.

Pola Kyprianides was certainly, by general admission, a unique human being. The type of person that stood out in any company. Clever, engaging, opinionated and fun, she possessed the kind of intellect that drew you in like the bait on a fishing line. Once you were hooked you could not let go.

People that knew her will attest to her big heart and the love with which she engulfed her friends. At the other end of the spectrum her adversaries always knew where she stood, for she was never shy about making her views known.

When writing about the absurdity of life, I mentioned three principles one should bear in mind in conducting one’s life. Having strong relationships, good health and meaningful work.

Pola’s love for her friends and her loyalty to them were exemplary. It was the cornerstone of her being and now that she is gone, she will certainly leave a big gap in all of us.

As for meaningful work, she devoted herself to that other love of her life, Akel. From a young age she was engaged in the pursuit of social justice and decided that Akel was the way to achieve it. Her loyalty to the party, like her loyalty to her friends, was unwavering.

She was never dogmatic in her views, with logic always serving as her guiding principle, yet she would not turn against the party even in its darkest hours. She was certainly disappointed on many occasions by Akel’s decisions, and she made her views clear. In public however, she would not go against the party line, even when she suffered a great personal cost from her involvement with it. Suffice to say that one of her last public appearances was to go and vote in the May parliamentary elections… in a wheelchair!

Which brings me to her neglect of that other principle in life. Good health. I said in that previous column that keeping in good health was such an obvious issue that did not require any comment. Yet, it seems that we tend to ignore things even when they stare us in the face. And then it is too late.

I too am guilty of refusing to see what was staring me in the face and lost the chance to tell her how important she was to me. Perhaps I was afraid that in doing so, I was admitting that she was about to go. Or simply that I was a coward. The circumstances reminded me of the heartfelt Garth Brooks song “If tomorrow never comes”, urging us not to postpone telling someone how much they mean to us. That is one principle I would add to that list of how to conduct one’s life.

In the past 18 months I have been unlucky to lose a number of close people. Each death, unique in its own way. To quote from the philosopher/novelist Iris Murdoch’s book The sea, The sea: “How different each death is, and yet it leads us into the self-same country, that country which we inhabit so rarely, where we see the worthlessness of what we have long pursued and will so soon return to pursuing.”  

As I ponder Pola’s life from that transient place, I cannot help feeling that the world has somehow failed her. I certainly did. And I think, Akel did too. She was too good for us. Despite her flaws, she touched us all in ways that we will treasure forever.

Pola was not a religious person. Her choice to be cremated is a testament to that. But in case there is a place like heaven, I am sure she will find a way to get in. After all, if St Peter stands in the entrance, he will be unable not to be smitten by her smile and laughter and end up, like all of us, hooked for all eternity.