A pall of gloom has descended upon our beloved Wadi (Patkars New Blocks where I live, for the uninitiated). In a span of less than a month we have lost 4 residents, all of who were living in the Wadi for over 30 years at least. The first to leave us was dear friend and the King of Good Times Girish Weling. He was truly the life of every community celebration in the Wadi. His generosity and graciousness as a host were unrivalled. He epitomised the the spirit of the Wadi in the truest sense. He was the connoisseur of all good things ranging from the best spirits, great food to arts, music, films. Girish was a storehouse of information on all these subjects and was a fantastic raconteur of anecdotes surrounding them. He could impersonate and mimic almost every person who interacted him even for the briefest time. His joie de vivre was infectious. He earned a formidable reputation in the Shipping Industry and rose to become the Vice President in one of the leading Steamer Agents in the country. Girish has left behind his strong/supportive wife Seema (another wadi resident) and his two adorable sons Prem and Uddhav. The void created on account Girishs demise is unlikely to be filled anytime soon. We friends are still struggling to come terms with this huge loss. RIP Girish. The next to leave us was Mr Kamath. One of the quietest and nicest persons in our Wadi. Mr Kamath was a successful trader in dyes and chemicals and had a very benign presence. His son Guru who joined him in the business is a friend who took an active part in all the Wadi activities. RIP Mr.Kamath. Within a couple of days of Mr Kamaths passing away, we were in for another piece of sad news. Mrs Parab (mother of Kishor/Shekhar/Rajan) breathed her last. I understand that she was ailing for some time. Mrs Parab must be one of the oldest residents of the Wadi. Her son Rajan (again a dear friend) was tending to her. In our growing years, we had bothered Mrs Parab a lot for glasses of water while playing Cricket. She never failed to quench our thirst and provided endless glasses of water to all of us. She too was a noble soul like Mr Kamath. RIP Mrs Parab. The fourth demise that rocked the Wadi yesterday was the sudden passing away of Ashok Rege. He passed away in his sleep. He was hale and hearty till the previous day and was one of the friendliest souls in our Wadi and I dare say the entire Guru Nanak Road. He was blessed with the uncanny gift of speaking the language of the person with whom he was interacting. Thus, everybody from the Dhobi, vegetable vendors, provision store owners, Chemists, Milk Man, Watchmen, and whoever else he came across would receive a warm Hello followed by exchange of pleasantries. He was a great friend of my deceased father in law Arvind Rao. Often times, our paths crossed especially when I was returning from office and invariably I would be greeted with the warmest Hello in his booming voice. His Hello and warmth had a magical effect of lifting your spirits. It was earnest and heartfelt. All the fatigue that sets in on returning after a hard day in office just vanished if you spent a couple of minutes with Ashok Rege. He was a terrific conversationalist and that also came from the fact that he held a very responsible position in Sales with Goodyear Tyres. He later shifted to Muscat and returned to India after seeking an early retirement. To my mind Ashok had one of the best collection of Kishore Kumar Songs and loved playing them on his enviable hitech music system full blast. He also used to sing along. While playing Cricket in the Wadi, Ashoks collection of Kishore Kumar hits provided just the tonic and rhythm that we longed for as we ran in to bowl. He was also blessed with a terrific sense of humour. We never tire of remembering some of the incidents in the Wadi where Ashoks humour came to the fore. He was a most loving husband, a caring father and doting grandfather. RIP Ashok Rege.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:22:06 +0000
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