Monday, March 02, 2020

Ramesh Gandhi, 1936-2020


(2003)


I am Nancy Gandhi, Ramesh Gandhi's wife. On 22 February Ramesh, who had been suffering from heart disease for the last five years, was finally unable to draw even one more breath. At the end, he slipped away silently in the afternoon, asleep. He died at home, as he wished, and he was cremated the same night without any rituals, which was also his wish.

A couple of weeks earlier, before he lost the ability to speak, his sister-in-law, Charu, had asked him, "Bhai, are you dreaming?" and he said, "I have so many stars to count."

His primary interest was in metaphysics, but he had many talents. He was a poet, a beautiful photographer. He was human, flawed, wise. He was quick-witted, funny, depressed. He had seen enough of the world, he was ready to leave.

I will close with a statement which he wrote about himself, many years ago:

"I look at the world. I look, distancing myself, so that somehow in that looking I might see the world as a microcosm of the universe, and thus identify myself with the universe and see my being, fragile, defective, transient, incomplete and fore-doomed, in relation to it. But no matter how far my mind and perception soar, the ultimate limit of physical detachment remains the length of the umbilical cord which ties me to a life, environment, conditions, of which I am no longer a part, and with which I have no pending business. What am I doing then? Why am I not releasing myself from the life-sustaining bond which at the same time strangles me, binding me to environmental attitudes which are alien to me, and situations with which I cannot cope."

4 comments:

George said...

Hello Mrs. Gandhi. Sorry to hear about Mr Ramesh Gandhi's passing away. May his soul rest in peace.

Unknown said...

Good Morning Mrs Gandhi. (Just got to know today) ..We are deeply sad to know the passing away of Mr Ramesh Gandhi.. Mr Gandhi was amazing and a wonderful human being. I treasure the cordial meetings which I had with Sir and yourself at your wonderful home. May his Soul Rest In Peace. Also, we to pray to God to strengthen you..once again our deepest condolences.. regards .. Thomas Simon & family

Anonymous said...

Hello Mrs. Gandhi, I am heartbroken to hear of your loss. I truly enjoyed reading your words about Mr. Ramesh, an I pray that the Universe protects you and his soul for eternity.

Anonymous said...

Madam
This is Muralidharan. Today morning I got a dream as discussing with you and Sir.
Just now when I saw the blog I was shocked to see the news.i missed yours number and sir number.