'Papa ji passed away..' the message choked me.
The sense of loss for the family is so very personal, immeasurable and unfathomable. It is a loss irreparable for the society and nation, too.
He was a proud father of doting daughters -Mrs. Meenakshi Anand Chaudhary, Urvashi Gulati, Keshni Anand Arora. Nurturing, educating, training and making the dream of all three daughters to be in the IAS come true is an achievement both inimitable and unparalleled. His daughters are the finest of officers who have achieved the highest echelons in bureaucracy. Above all, they are revered as the best of human beings and it must have been a matter of great pride for him as father.
He was a proud father of doting daughters -Mrs. Meenakshi Anand Chaudhary, Urvashi Gulati, Keshni Anand Arora. Nurturing, educating, training and making the dream of all three daughters to be in the IAS come true is an achievement both inimitable and unparalleled. His daughters are the finest of officers who have achieved the highest echelons in bureaucracy. Above all, they are revered as the best of human beings and it must have been a matter of great pride for him as father.
I feel blessed to have met him when he visited Kurukshetra during Gita Jayanti festival-the most laudable initiative of Mrs. Urvashi Gulati for Dharamkshetra Kurukshetra. It was an honour to have been complimented by him for my work in Kurukshetra Development Board.
Madam Urvashi Gulati would often talk about him- his exhortation to just ignore negative remark, question or cribbing; his compassion to sponsor treatment of cancer patients; his pride in self-dependence. He personified dignity and grace-the hallmarks of a noble soul.
The precincts of Political Science department of Panjab University he adorned for decades and enriched lives of hundreds and hundreds of students through mentoring and teaching which would bear his indelible imprints for generations to come.
A few days ago Mrs. Urvashi Gulati had inaugurated a block in Panjab University Campus - her alma mater and she was excited like a child to tell Papa Ji about it - something she could not do.
There is a prayer in Vedas: jeevem shardah shatam/pashyem shardah shatam/ shrinuyam sharda shatam/adeena syam sharda shatam/bhooyashch sharda shatat. (Yajur Veda 36:24)
With all the faculties intact, the heart stopped pumping-it is His grace. Wish he had lived to see his third daughter, too become the Chief Secretary!
A life so much filled with grace and dignity, pride and humane-ness cannot pass away, would continue to live through his daughters and grand children.
A life so much filled with grace and dignity, pride and humane-ness cannot pass away, would continue to live through his daughters and grand children.
