In Memoriam: Those who left an enduring legacy

Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat
(16 March 1958 - 8 December 2021)

A surprise pick for the post of Chief of Army Staff in 2016, General Bipin Rawat was appointed as the first tri-service chief, Chief of Defence Staff, on December 31, 2019. Born in Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, and an alumnus of St Edward’s School in Shimla before joining the NDA, General Rawat was keen to return to his roots rather than spending a post-retirement life in Noida, where his father, Lt Gen Laxman Singh Rawat (retd), had built a house. Fate tragically willed otherwise.

A man on a mission to kickstart the jointness of the three forces, he was unlike an officious military officer who would not go beyond the strait-jacket approach. General Rawat was informal and outspoken, though his words and actions were at times misunderstood and misinterpreted. The single-point adviser to the government on matters related to the military, his sudden death in a tragic chopper crash in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu, which also claimed the lives of his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 others on board, leaves a huge void.

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Sunderlal Bahuguna
(9 January 1927 - 21 May 2021)

Just like his demeanour, his act of resistance was simple too — hugging a tree to prevent it from being cut. This act of bonding with nature came to be known as the Chipko Movement and defined the course of his life and that of environmental activism in the country — satyagrah. That simple act, which saw its birth in the aftermath of a devastating flood in Uttarakhand (then part of UP) in 1970, has inspired generations of environment lovers. A few years ago, activists in Maharashtra’s Aarey forest were seen hugging trees to prevent them from being axed.

A native of Tehri Garhwal, Bahuguna had seen the destruction caused by Tehri dam — nature and history being submerged in its waters. And he sat on hunger strikes — once stretching beyond two months — to awaken the governments to people’s concerns, walked miles to make people understand the need of saving the fragile nature around them. The gravity was, of course, to be understood only when the impacts were felt. His wife by his side and Gandhian philosophy as the driving force, his message was clear: ‘ecology is permanent economy’. However, the land of his birth apparently hasn’t lapped up his lessons.

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Jagmohan
(25 September 1927 - 3 May 2021)

In his book, My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir, former Governor Jagmohan Malhotra, popularly known by his first name, wrote, “Acting in the overall national interest, the ideal Governor must display courage and vision at the time of a crisis. He should not act as a cipher, or as a rubber stamp, or as a foggy old man standing in a corner with a wooden face and stony eyes.” A rubber stamp this civil servant-turned-politician was certainly not, though his two tenures as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir remained controversial. The differences with the VP Singh government in 1990 saw his second tenure being shortened to barely four months.

Efficient and focused, with an uncompromising and tough style of working, he served under different governments, be it as Lt Governor of Delhi, Goa, Daman and Diu or the Governor of J&K. The Padma Vibhushan awardee is also credited with the successful organisation of the Delhi Asian Games in 1982 and the Non-Aligned Movement Summit. The three-time Lok Sabha MP won his first election in 1996 on a BJP ticket, and served as a minister in the Vajpayee government.

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Milkha Singh
(20 Nov 1929-18 Jun 2021)

Even in his 92nd year, Milkha Singh was hardy and wiry and strong, a man who loved his round of golf and a pint or two of his favourite drink after that. Milkha was one of those rare achievers about whom myth and reality become indistinguishable. At one point in time, Muhammad Ali was considered the most famous man on the planet — similarly, Milkha was arguably the most famous man in India from the late 1950s to the 1970s. His fame got a second lease of life when Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was released in 2013.

His achievements, which raised the spirits of a young nation, were staggering, with gold medals at the 1958 Asian and Commonwealth Games. His most famous race, though, fetched him no medal: he was a real prospect for a medal in the 400 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics but finished fourth, leading to a lifetime of regret. To the end of his days, his biggest wish was to see an Indian athlete win a gold medal at the Olympics — 61 years after Milkha’s disappointment at Rome, Neeraj Chopra did win gold for India, though the Flying Sikh had already flown by then, merely five days after wife Nirmal Kaur — former India volleyball captain — had died due to complications caused by Covid-19.

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Virbhadra Singh
(23 June 1934 - 8 July 2021)

At 27, Virbhadra Singh became the youngest MP in Lok Sabha, handpicked by PM Jawaharlal Nehru to fight on a Congress ticket from the Mahasu constituency, then part of Punjab. That was the beginning of his six-decade journey in politics, most of which was spent in Himachal Pradesh as its six-time CM. Fondly known as Raja Sahib, Virbhadra Singh and the Congress were synonymous in Himachal for five decades.

Sharp and astute, he was known as a gentleman politician with a fighting spirit. Obituary after obituary narrated how he got the bosses in Delhi to concede to his wishes when it came to political choices in the state. While ramping up basic infrastructure — roads and schools — in the state would be his biggest achievement, a case of disproportionate assets against him and his wife marked his last tenure as CM in 2012-17, with agencies raiding his residence even on the day of his daughter’s wedding in 2015.

Found positive for Covid-19 twice in two months, he passed away due to health-related issues in July at the age of 88. The sea of humanity that converged to pay last respects at his native home, the Padam Palace in Rampur, showed why he was the most popular politician in the state — truly a mass leader, their own Raja Sahib.

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Dilip Kumar
(11 December 1922 - 7 July 2021)

As we enter the birth centenary year of the original badshah of the film industry, Dilip Kumar aka Mohammed Yusuf Khan, cinephiles continue to mourn the loss of one of the all-time greats. Tragedy King, the ultimate method actor, many an epithet define his acting prowess that has left lasting footprints in the annals of cinematic history. Who can forget his soul-searing performance in Devdas or his romantic act in the historical Mughal-e-Azam? Learning early on that acting is not acting, he internalised characters as well as imbued his own personality in the memorable parts which he etched like a man born to them. Making his debut with Jwar Bhata, his stellar performances in movies such as Andaz, Aan, Azaad and the social Ganga Jumna earned him a name in the hall of fame. Honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994, he received the highest civilian honour, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, in 1998 from Pakistan, where he was born in Peshawar. His second innings included films like Kranti and Shakti and he may have been last seen on the screen in Qila in 1998, but so timeless was his work that he continues to hold a firm grip over people’s imagination.

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Soli J Sorabjee
(9 March 1930-30 April 2021)

Law and jazz were the two passions that Soli Jehangir Sorabjee followed till the end. Be it providing legal service to political prisoners during the Emergency or representing victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots pro bono, or speaking in favour of decriminalising Section 377, the Padma Vibhushan awardee fearlessly championed the cause of free speech and freedom of expression.

His historic cases like SR Bommai vs Union of India and Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala helped to strengthen jurisprudence while upholding the basic structure of the Constitution.

Mentored by Nani Palkhivala, he was twice the Attorney General of India (1989-1990 and 1998-2004) and also served as Solicitor-General of India from 1977 to 1980. Sorabjee served as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague and was Special Representative to the UN Human Rights Commission. An institution in himself, the Parsi legal luminary, who studied at Bombay Law School, headed the Jazz India Delhi chapter and was instrumental in bringing Jazz Yatra (later Jazz Utsav) to the national capital.

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Ved Mehta
(21 March 1934-9 January 2021)

When Ved Mehta passed away in New York at the age of 86 this January, for 83 of those years, he could not see, having lost his sight to meningitis when he just over three. The blindness, despite being a terrible impediment initially, did not stop him from experiencing the world and describing it with astonishing accuracy.

Born in Lahore, Mehta was sent to the US at 15 by his doctor father as the visually-challenged at that time could receive a proper education only in the West. Mehta was still a student when he started writing for The New Yorker. In an interview, he admitted to writing “partially because of the heightened sense of loneliness that many intelligent blind people feel”. He was 23 when he published his first book Face to Face, an autobiography. Mehta went on to write 26 more books, most of them autobiographical.

Credited with introducing India to Americans, he joined The New Yorker at 26 and spent the next 33 years writing on theology, Indian history, politics, religion, love, Oxford dons and a variety of other subjects. His refreshing oeuvre includes seminal works like Portrait of India (1970), Daddyji (1972), Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles (1976), A Family Affair: India Under Three Prime Ministers (1982) and All for Love (2001).

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Gira Sarabhai
(11 december 1923 - 15 July 2021)

Sister of the illustrious scientist Vikram Sarabhai and freedom fighter Mridula Sarabhai, Gira Sarabhai’s death marks the end of an era — that came to define modern India by its new ‘temples’. Gira’s biggest contribution, among several others, would perhaps be the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad, which she co-founded in 1961 along with her brother, Gautam. Homeschooled all through, she went to the US to train under the pioneering architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona. She returned in the 1940s, a time when the country needed to forge that much-needed bond between the past and the future. In 1949, she founded the Calico Museum of Textiles, India’s premier museum dedicated to textiles. Gira was instrumental in inviting several prominent designer-architects to Ahmedabad, among them Charles and Ray Eames, Buckminster Fuller and Louis Kahn. Her own design, the Calico Dome, was inspired from Fuller’s geodesic domes. Designed along with Gautam, it housed the showroom for Calico Mills, founded by her Gandhian father Ambalal Sarabhai. A Gandhian at heart herself, Gira was known to be an intensely private person who devoted more than seven decades of her life to public service.

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Prof Dinesh Mohan
(4 October 1945 - 21 May 2021)

The face of road safety and transportation in India, Prof Dinesh Mohan often started his technical presentations with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi: “Action without knowledge is useless and knowledge without action is futile.” Fondly addressed as DM by his colleagues and students at IIT-Delhi where he was an Honorary Professor, he was instrumental in setting up of the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme at the institute in 2002. This has now been turned into a full-fledged centre to promote state-of-the-art advancements that can address traffic safety issues in India. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay and University of Michigan, this expert on injury prevention and human tolerance to injury is known for his work in advancing motorcycle helmet design, besides championing the cause of safety of pedestrians and cyclists.

He pushed for the mandatory wearing of helmets and seatbelts as well as airbags in cars. Recipient of several distinctions, he brought national attention to burn injuries caused by fireworks during Diwali and agricultural injuries due to farm machines. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system experiment in Delhi was an outcome of his vision. When he died of cardiac arrest following Covid complications, he left behind a team of inspired researchers working to create a safer world.

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Satya Paul
(2 February 1942 - 6 January 2021)

The celebrity designer, whose name became synonymous with the modern avatar of the ultimate India garment, saree, passed away at Coimbatore’s Isha Yoga Centre in early January. He may not have studied fashion designing, but Satya Paul was to become a brand known for reinvention and innovation. His label was born in 1985 and became as much a signature as a hallmark of quality. Reinventing the versatile saree, he stamped it with unusually unique designs. A Satya Paul saree became an emblem of sartorial style, an elitist wear and toast of the modern Indian woman. Long after he took a sabbatical and handed over the reins of his empire to his son Puneet Nanda, his designs could be recognised from miles. Unlike other celebrity designers, he did not seek attention for himself and let his work take centrestage. As much a designer as a seeker, his spiritual journey took him from J Krishnamurti to Osho to Sadhguru. If his garments brought and will continue to bring joy in the lives of fashionistas, his own life was summed up by his son: “I can attest to him having lived in totality and left fulfilled in every way. It is the greatest testament to him as he went joyously without fear.”

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Mannu Bhandari
(3 April 1931 - 15 November 2021)

Her characters, like her own self, were women living life on their own terms. One of the pioneers of the Nayi Kahani movement in Hindi literature, Mannu Bhandari’s writings weren’t about meek ladies playing second fiddle to their men, but independent women who knew their rights as well as their responsibilities. Married to Rajendra Yadav, one of Hindi literature’s biggest names, she was a writer of her own making, her disagreements with Yadav making for famous anecdotes in literary circles. Basu Chatterjee’s film Rajnigandha, adapted from her story Yahi Sach Hai, brought her wider fame, as did Amal Allana’s stage adaptation of her novel Mahabhoj, which is performed to this day. Her 1971 novel Aapka Bunty, a story of divorce told through the eyes of a nine-year-old, remains a stark reminder of a changing social order. In her death, the Hindi literary world has lost a prominent voice of an India then and now.

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Surekha Sikri
(19 April 1945 - 16 July 2021)

Gen next might remember veteran actress Surekha Sikri as the quirky robust dadi in the successful and critically acclaimed Badhaai Ho, or the strict dadisa of TV series Balika Vadhu, but the three-time National Award winner, who made her debut with Kissa Kursi Ka (1978), made her presence felt in films like Sardari Begum, Zubeidaa, Hari-Bhari, Sarfarosh, and Rituparno Ghosh’s Raincoat. The spark one saw in Badhaai Ho laced more than one film and television serial. If her impish smile won hearts, her twinkling eyes shone as bright as her acting talent. Last seen as a bedridden patient in Zoya Akhtar’s Netflix anthology Ghost Stories, this alumnus of the National School of Drama won a National Award for Govind Nihalini’s television series Tamas. Shyam Benegal’s Mammo, too, got her the same illustrious honour.

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Narendra Chanchal
(16 October 1940 - 22 January 2021)

The voice and face of devotional music, Amritsar-born singer Narendra Chanchal passed away at 80 due to age-related issues. Although he started singing bhajans from a young age, his brush with fame came with the song “Beshak mandir masjid todo” from Bobby (1973), winning him the Filmfare Award. The success of devotional songs like “Tune mujhe bulaya sheranwaliye” and “Chalo bulawa aaya hai” catapulted Chanchal to stardom, and his fan base never dipped.

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Yashpal Sharma
(11 August 1954 - 13 July 2021)

Yashpal Sharma, who died at the age of 66 in July, was one of the men who, in the magical summer of 1983, turned the Indian team from laggards to world champions of One-day cricket. Sharma, a Ludhiana lad, was the team’s top-scorer in two important wins in the 1983 World Cup. The six he hit off fast bowler Bob Willis against England created a sensation, considered Viv Richardsesque. Even as the movie 83 gathers praise, one of the stars of the class of 1983 is absent.

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Danish Siddiqui
(19 May 1983 - 15 July 2021)

“What I enjoy most is capturing the human face of a breaking story,” said Danish Siddiqui, whose photographs from Delhi riots and migrant exodus from cities during the lockdown, to Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar and the Taliban marching towards Kabul hold testimony to these words — the latter claiming his life. Having learnt photography from a borrowed camera, Siddiqui had won the Pulitzer Prize, along with his colleagues at Reuters, in 2018.

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Dingko Singh
(1 January 1979 - 10 June 2021)

The boxer with lightning-fast fists, who became an icon by winning an Asian Games gold at age 19, died at only 42 years of age after a battle with cancer. Born into poverty and brought up in an orphanage, he beat two world top-5 boxers to win gold at the 1998 Bangkok Asiad, showing the way to a new generation of boxing stars from the country — such as fellow Manipuri Mary Kom, for whom Dingko was a role model and personal hero.

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Kamla Bhasin
(24 April 1946 - 25 September 2021)

From the JNU campus to ‘Gully Boy’, if there has been a war cry against oppression, it has been ‘Azadi’ — a song Kamla Bhasin first heard in Pakistan and crafted as a slogan against patriarchy at a 1991 rally in Kolkata, popularising it across platforms, rallies, agitations. Much like her song ‘Tod todke bandhanon ko dekho behne aati hain’, which has become an anthem for women rights. The activist-writer dedicated her life to women issues.

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Sidharth Shukla
(12 December 1980 - 2 September 2021)

TV heartthrob Sidharth Shukla would have turned 41 this month, but the man who lived life king-size died suddenly of a possible heart attack in September, leaving behind an army of teary-eyed fans. A Mumbaikar to the core, Shukla began as a Gladrags model, getting his small-screen break in Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na (2008).

After several two-bit roles in CID and Aahat, the Khatron Ke Khiladi (2016) winner tasted stardom in Balika Vadhu (2012) as District Collector Shivraj Shekhar, a character he played to conviction for three years, as well as a role in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014).

Never to go by the odds, the suave star had a blasé attitude to norms of the industry, participating in Bigg Boss (2019), considered the last haven of struggling actors, at the height of his career. From hosting TV shows to music videos to daily soaps, web series and finally films, he left a mark in every genre. His fans were looking forward to watch the Broken But Beautiful-3 actor in a film with Prabhas and an OTT series with Jennifer Winget and Pankaj Tripathi, but fate had its own plans.