A Letter to Vijay Chintaman Ranade

Our Dear Vijay,

On the morning of 20^th May, this year, you suddenly left this world.  It was a surprise for you and shock to all of us. Even after experiencing the grief and performing all the concomitant rituals during the last three days, we still do not believe that you are not with us.

Yes, you will never be far from us.  You are part of our life, part of our day-to-day celebrations, discussions, picnics and outings, get-togethers, and, really everything that gets included in this journey.  

You met us after you met Neela.  And immediately, you became another member of our family; a son to our parents and a brother to all of us.  We started sharing our life with you.  And so did you.  In the hospital, while signing on the Eye-donation form, the doctor asked my relationship with you.  I wrote brother, stopped and very reluctantly added the in-law thing. It was wrong, though legally appropriate.  If to be entirely correct, I would have written brother, friend, guide, teacher, a source of inspiration, …

No, I would not have been able to completely describe this relationship.  The language has many limitations.  Words are always inadequate to describe things like music, beauty and feelings. I feel completely lost. 

Vijay, you believed in everything that is transparent, honest and sincere. Your every action was transparent, honest and sincere.  We liked your smile, because your every smile was transparent, honest and sincere. 

And you worked hard; very hard.  For you, your work was sublime. You liked your chosen field, and you dedicated your entire time to this. You correctly defined the word career.  It is not running after money or position or power; it is achieving something that will take the mankind a step further. You worked very, very hard to provide precise, novel and unique solutions.  The roads and bridges that you designed are still testimony to what India can achieve.

And you were a born leader. You could easily build a team of honest and dedicated staff around you.  You taught them, guided them and inspired them.  It is a great feat in a bureaucratic organization.  Yet, you achieved it so brilliantly that literally hundreds of them still remembered you and paid their respects on your last day.

And like your father, you were a born teacher.  A picnic with you would never be just a picnic.  It would invariably include introduction with your friends and colleagues, explaining in detail the works executed by you with them, taking us to nearby or distant projects being currently executed and instructing to the staff what needs further to be done and why it should be done.  And we were always surprised by the visits paid by your staff (even after your retirement), which would wait for you at the rest house and seek your advice and guidance.  You showed us that the work could also be a pleasure and that the pleasure trip could also mean a field trip. 

You were a loving and doting husband. You trusted Neela to the end.  She was free to do whatever she liked and you loved what and how she was doing.  I will never forget the time when she was taken suddenly ill and had to be hospitalized recently.  You were restless, anxious, afraid..! And then the way your face brightened when the doctor announced that she was out of danger! 

You were also equally loving (and probably a little stricter) father to your two sons.  Although you had little time for them in their younger days, you saw to it that they got proper education, AND your values.  They are just like you, thanks to your and Neela’s upbringing. 

And then, you are blessed with charming and loving and equally brilliant a grandson and a granddaughter!  It was such a pleasure to see you performing the sweet role of a dear grandfather. 

Vijay, the going was such great that, really, we wanted some more of it. We wanted more time with you; wanted more outings with you, when the journey would take detours and you would show us different bridges and roads on the way; wanted more visits to the joints where they serve good fish and chicken; wanted more visits to your farmhouse where you would explain different trees that you had planted.  

And really, really, we wanted more smiles from you.  We wanted to have more positive energy from you.  We were so dependent on you.

Don’t say good bye, Vijay; just say, bye!

Arun and Rajani