Another farewell too soon. Raj Kumar Varma
I made a post about 'A Farewell', last week. I did not have the slightest inkling then that I was soon to write another farewell note. This note is about a cousin and friend who happened to be the son of a former celebrity.
I first met Raj in New Delhi in 1979. I had joined a Bank and the first posting was in New Delhi. Laksman Varma. a youngster and a nephew of the then Cabinet Minister for Labour, G. Ravindra Varma, one of the true Gandhians in politics was put up at his official residence. So I met Raj and Lakshman together as the two youngsters, both searching for jobs, were inseparable.
Raj was well over 6 feet and very handsome. He was
staying in Karol Bagh with his uncle B.G.Varma, the renowned cartoonist who was
then with the Shankar’s Weekly. Raj had the rare privilege of riding a Bullet
Motorcycle belonging to his uncle.
During the time, I was staying in Green Park. I was
on probation and was not eligible for the Bank's leased accommodation. So I
stayed with Mr Sree Manohara Varma, a year senior to me in the Bank. We had a
two-room floor in a beautiful area in South Delhi overlooking a deer park.
After the transfer of Manohara Varma to Kerala a year later, I took the same
apartment as my official accommodation. Later, he rose in ranks and retired as
a DGM of the Bank while at Trivandrum. He left us a year after his retirement.
With Raj and Sree
Manohara Varma Green Park, New Delhi 1979
Raj, along with Lakshman, used to visit me in the
evenings at Green Park. I had a mess account with the local Madras Café and we
used to have Masala Dosas and Vadas during our get together. Afterwards, we
went to my apartment and used to have long chats.
Raj was a very jovial personality. He always had
many jokes up his sleeve.
At that time, I never felt that we were to be
relatives after 4 years. I married his cousin Sindhu. His mother and Sindhu’s mother are sisters. His father, LPR Varma, became Vallyachan to
me, after marriage.
After a year or so, Raj and Laksman went abroad on jobs. Raj went to UAE and Lakshman went to Saudi Arabia. I got transferred to Alleppey, where I was to meet my future wife.
Those days, cameras were fewer, and Raj brought good cameras from abroad. He took beautiful photos during my marriage. Two years later, he got married. They came and stayed with us during their honeymoon days.
Raj was a travel enthusiast. He used to tell me about his travel adventures very often. He was about to go on a road trip to Gujarat and Kashmir with his wife. Destiny seems to have different plans.
Raj’s greatest assets were his physique and his
tongue. He was very charming physically and when talking. At any party, he was
a star. He lived his life majestically and treated it as a celebration. Warm
and cheerful always, he lifted the mood of the group. He spread positive vibes
and never had I seen him in a morose and gloomy mood. He loved good
food and invited friends to enjoy the exotic food that he often cooked.
A telephone call on the morning of the 23rd conveyed the shell shocking news of his sudden demise. By a strange quirk of fate, Lakshman was with him the previous evening recalling the old times!
When faced with the sorrow of the inevitable enigma called
death, I take solace in the wisdom of the Gita.
“jatasya hi dhruvo mrtyur, dhruvam janma mrtasya ca
tasmad apariharye 'rthe, na tvam socitum
arhasi”
For one who has taken his birth, death is certain;
and for one who is dead, birth also is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable
discharge of your duty, do not lament. Bhagavad Gita 18.63
The Upanishad also reiterates the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of ultimate truth in the following
lines:
“Manasai vedamapthavyam, Neha nanasti kincana
Mruthyo sa mruthyum gachhati , Ya iha naneva
pasyati”
Use your mind to think and know that there are no
'many' here. Those who feel there are 'many', repeatedly go through the cycles
of deaths. Kathopanishad 4.11
The above goes well with the concept of the singularity of the
Universe as the Physicists say, and is most appealing to me.
Adieu, Raj! Up there, be the cheerleader you have always been!
Palakkad, 26th
February 2022.
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