A former post office manager, she was a vivid presence who managed to upstage her relatives even when she wasn’t in the room
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Ravkiran Kaur Dhillon loved to talk on the phone. “She could be on the phone for hours,” says her son, Harjot Dhillon, a 33-year-old marketing manager from Berkshire. “She wouldn’t stop for breath. She’d talk, talk, talk.” She would text, too: viral videos; jokey messages. Not just to her kids, but often to her kids’ friends. “If Mum got hold of one of my friend’s numbers, she’d text them all the time,” jokes Harjot. “She’d send them gifs and memes. I’d say: ‘Mum! Please text your friends, not mine!’”
Ravkiran moved to the UK from Kenya aged 24, marrying Partap, who was from Amritsar in Punjab, India, shortly afterwards – they were introduced by their families. “They had the most perfect marriage,” says Harjot. “They loved being in each other’s company. All their friends were mutual. They ate together every evening. I’ve emulated my parents in my own marriage.”