MY DEAR LALLY

I am writing this with a great sense of sorrow and a heavy heart. Lalit Angural (Lally), a hale and hearty young man, passed away suddenly in the forenoon of October 6, 2012 with a silent heart stroke. He was to complete 24 on October 9. Lally’s sister Sulekha is our daughter in law, wife of my son Rupesh. But the parents of Lally, Madan and Nimmo, are our family friends of long standing. Madan is a business partner of my brother Kishan and Lally was a business associate of Kishan’s son Brijesh (Bablu).  Lally, as such, was a part of our own family in all respects. Even after, our family friendship turned into close relationship, Lally continued to call us Tayaji and Taiji. The untimely and sudden death of Lally cut down a promising and budding businessman, a great hope and stay of a struggling family to find their feet in the society. The cruel hands of death have snatched that dream and hope. I was in Gurgaon for a few days to be with Sulekha and our little granddaughter Suhani (3 yrs.) as Rupesh was away to Russia on a business trip when the sad news reached us. I brought Sulekha and Suhani to Jalandhar in the night of October 6 itself. It was one of the difficult journeys of my life, Sulekha weeping and crying and Suhani getting curious and sad throughout.

On reaching Madan’s home, the scenario was totally unbearable. The dead body of Lally was kept in a refrigerated box for cremation the next day, October 7. It looked as if he was in a deep sleep. For me it was a different experience. By the quirk of fate or by chance, I did not see death/dead body even at this ripe age of 60 plus. My grandfather died of heart attack in 1972. I could not reach Jalandhar from Delhi before the cremation. My father in law died in 1979. We were in Beijing (China) and could not reach for the rituals. My father died in 1986 after a long illness and we remained with him for a month or so a months before his death. But we could not reach home at the time of death. We were in Kandy (Sri Lanka). My grandmother died in 1990. Again we could reach Jalandhar only after the cremation. My mother died in 2006 after a prolonged illness. We were in Prague (Czech Republic). We could not reach. The reasons for this unintentional absence were partly exigencies of service and partly my non-insistence to wait for me for the rituals. As a simple and ordinary human being, I have tried and lived life as it came. My brothers have been very supportive and respectful. So far so good.

Lally’s death was a shattering experience. I find it difficult to forget his lovely face and charming behavior. Lally was good at studies. After BBA, he was doing MBA from Sikkim Manipal University. He was fully and successfully engaged in a good export business as a self made person. He was a man in a hurry to do many things quickly. He was a social and amicable personality who was engaged in social and extra-curricular activities. It will be difficult to fill the void created by Lally’s sudden departure in the years to come.  May God grant peace to the departed soul of Lally.