TRICHY: We do talk about doting husbands idolising their life partners and placing them on a pedestal. Here is an instance of a man who deemed it fit to, quite literally, worship his departed wife with whom he had spent 48 memorable years.For Subbaiah, 83, of Usilangulam in Pudukottai district, Valentine’s Day was just like any other day, lighting a lamp in front of a panchaloha idol of his wife Shenbagavalli he has installed in his home.Subbaiah with 3.5-feet-tall Panchaloha idolBut for the media and neighbours, Subbaiah was an icon. On Thursday, they thronged his house to meet the man whose love for his wife has awed one and all.“Everyone wants to meet the man whose eternal love for his wife has set an example for all couples,” said Raj Kumar, his neighbour.Survived by 8 children and 15 grand-children, Subbaiah felt a void after Shenbagavalli passed away in 2006. He couldn’t get over it until it occurred to him that he could make an idol and worship her for the rest of his life.Since installation of an idol required permission, he approached the district administration, the local body and the police department and got the necessary clearance. The idol was made to order at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh in Kumbakonam Much against the wishes of his children, who did not want him to live in the past, Subbaiah installed the idol in his house in 2009.“I realised that there is no future without her memories and decided to spend the rest of my life worshipping her and cherishing our nearly half-a-century of togetherness,” Subbaiah told TOI.Asked about his Valentine’s day, Subbaiah said he was busy giving interviews to the media right from morning.“Otherwise I don’t have a special day to celebrate her memories. I do it daily and don’t feel her absence as she is living with me through the idol,” he said.

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