A few words penned down by a Father
Lt. Col (Retd) L. M. Pande on Wednesday August 15, 2012 at 3 PM
Harsh always had an encouraging smile on his face and an exuberance of a talented, spirited personality on his countenance at all times. It was amazing how he always embalmed and also displayed the natural naughtiness of a happy child; the sheer delight of a discovery of growth coupled with success with each coming year of his life; the concentrated effort and determination to explore and master various vocations he introduced himself to; the genuinely articulated friendship filled with understanding, fun and laughter with all his innumerable friends, associates and companions; the blessed instinct to discern a friend in distress and provide instant relief with mirth and encouragement; and most of all, his uncanny ability to enlighten and enliven all around him with his never-say-die attitude.
And all this, despite him suffering from acute congenital multiple physical complication by birth entailing fourteen major surgeries and extremely strenuous and painful rehabilitation procedures throughout the 24 yrears, 3 months and 16 days of his eventful life. I was a friend, partner and guardian of his for all but 28 days of this blessed period. I am his proud father and eternally grateful to God for that privilege and pleasure. The 28 days that I missed out on were because while Harsh was born 7th January 1988 at Military Hospital, Pune, I was then posted at an extremely remote post on the country’s border as an infantry officer of the Indian Army and could only join the family on the 29th day after his birth due to exigencies of service.
I am extremely and lovingly grateful to Harsh for being part of our family and giving us all so much joy and pride ; and grateful to all of his friends and colleagues for their support and beautiful emotions. We love you all.
And Harsh, you are forever with us ….. Your soon to be published novel ‘HICCUPS’ reminds us of your very own quote that one has to experience life in order to be able to express it.
we heard of harshis birth on a sunny jan afternoon ,the joy we felt was tinged with marvel at the tenacity of this young soul who already had so much to cope with.
the first time we got to meet was sadly when the entire family got together after nanajis passing away .as the elders got busy with the rituals here i was incharge of two 7 year olds and the leader harshi all of 5.harshi soon became my ally albeit in secret exchanging lil looks of forbidden joy as akshay got a scolding or two .even then the bond between dippy and harshi was rock solid and they were always looking out for each other ..fiercely protective .their mellufious voices resonated through sharon house as they and smita mami sang bhajans every evening in the thya such a peaceful memory to carry . papa battle hardened veteran ,and my stoic tower of strength implored lalit mamu as he put harshi thru his paces to be gentle ….later that day harshi climbed into papas lap and whispered softly intohis ear phupaji dont worry it doesnt hurt that much and with a monkey hug he was gone leaving behind a man who always remains in awe of his resilience
over the years we spoke unfailingly on birthdays and shared with joy news of each others achievements .
a fleeting trip to pune gave me the chance to meet them and marvel at how well read they both were and how harshi for all his young years was the only one who got my sense of joy at travelling to a strange city and getting around on my own.
last winter we met again .in all the melee and madness of a family shaadi get together harshi reached to sahaj and my shy son was laughing and gassing away to glory with his rapidly appointed favourite mama .harshi had an interest in everything sahaj wanted to talk about and sahaj was so won over .the next day satinder was soon under harshis spell his jokes his cracks and his joie de vivre had us all in splits and wanting so much more.harshi r.i.p may the luminescence of your personality and the effervescence of your soul continue to light up our lives.