D Shanti, 43, broke the silence she had maintained with the media since her son was bullied and brutally tortured by a group of teenagers near their home on June 9.
She consoles herself by dressing up a bolster with a long-sleeved T-shirt which Nhaveen used to wear.
“I still feel he is here. I cuddle up next to the pillow and have ‘pillow talks’ with him.
“When I visit relatives, I take it along. I still feel his presence,” her voice trembled as she spoke of her son.
Shanti, a factory line supervisor, is upset by speculation that her son was involved in gang activities.
“This is nonsense. He was a wonderful son, obedient and good natured. He was the most caring, independent and loving person. He cared for animals and insisted on only spending money he made on his own.”
Shanti said for his 18th birthday this year, Nhaveen had wanted to take the family for a trip to Genting Highlands using the salary he was earning as a promoter at a departmental store.
Last year, the family had gone to Cameron Highlands for a holiday.
“For his 17th birthday last year, Nhaveen’s aunt had given him some cash but he did not spend a single sen on himself. Instead he bought me a pair of sunglasses and earrings.
“Before he got the job at the departmental store, he would do part-time jobs and used the money to buy things that he liked.
“The entire neighbourhood knew him to be a good kid as he used to work as a cashier at a sundry shop at our apartment block.
“I had promised him that I would allow him to get his motorcycle licence for his birthday this year. I know he could have got the licence when he was 16, but I told him to wait until he was 18. He was okay with that,” Shanti said.
She said sometimes she would teach Nhaveen to ride her motorcycle near their apartment block.
Shanti lives in a 550 sq ft, five-storey walk-up apartment in Taman Tun Sardon in Gelugor.
Shanti said Nhaveen’s pet dog, Rambo, a shih tzu and poodle mix, still missed him. It would often run to the balcony and start howling whenever it heard Nhaveen’s name mentioned in conversation, she said.
“He always loved animals. I remember the time he begged me to stop the bike to save a cat with a nose injury. He brought it back and nursed it back to health.
“Actually, he wanted to be a vet when he was younger. But later, he loved music more,” she said.
Nhaveen’s only sister, Thivaashini, 17, and two other cousins, T Shveta Akshay, 17, and T Ashwin Akshay, 21, used to celebrate their birthdays together as they were all born in November and December.
“The four of us would gather and celebrate together every year. This has been going on since we were small. This year, I have no heart to celebrate as he is gone,” Shveta said.
Shveta will leave for California this week. Because of Nhaveen’s murder, she intends to study criminal law.
Nhaveen was supposed to take up a four-month certificate course in music at the Limkokwing University in Cyberjaya. However, he was assaulted just two days before he was scheduled to begin his studies.
Nhaveen’s aunt G Kumutha, 37, said he had planned to apply for a scholarship to pursue his music studies in Perth, Australia.
“He was the one who taught me what electronic dance music was. He wanted to be famous like Indian music directors, A R Rahman and Anirudh Ravichander.
“He jokingly told me ‘I will see you in Perth’,” the primary schoolteacher said.
The family is hoping justice would be served without further delay and those responsible punished for what they did to Nhaveen.
Four teenagers, including two juveniles, were charged with murdering Nhaveen, on June 9. The trial has been fixed for Jan 11.
Nhaveen given grand send-off as brutality of his death lingers