Remembering Ashwani

On 9th June Sanjeev Kane, our M.Sc. classmate, sent me a mail regarding the untimely passing away of Ashwani Kumar. I was in the middle of cooking dinner for my family when I read the mail. After that I just could not continue cooking and went down the memory lane. I was really saddened and felt a deep sense of regret. Regret for not being able to thank him for his kindness during one of my trip to CAT, Indore. There were several occasions to do it but somehow it just skipped my mind.
During our M.Sc. class I was too busy trying to pass all those exams and hardly interacted with all our classmates. But I remember Ashwani as a kind and helping person who always made it a point to interact and say “Hi” whenever we met. I still remember one incidence. Once my friends Smitha (Nambiar), Swati (Thube), Jayashree (Seshadri), and me were all sitting in the Physics department porch and trying to get a solution to one of the tough questions of a tutorial. At that time Ashwani entered the department and asked us girls as to what we were doing. When he saw the question in the tutorial, he gave us some hints and that really made our day. Thanks Ashwani for helping that day. I very clearly remember that he also gave us girls advice that we have to enjoy life along with all those tutorials. At that time I was thinking “what a strange advice! We have to pass M.Sc.” But now looking back I realize what he meant and how true!
Again probably during 91’/92’/93’ (cannot recollect the year), I had been to CAT for 10 days for some experiments for my Ph.D thesis. On the second day of my stay I met Ashwani by chance in front of the entrance of the building where I was doing the experiments. I remember he went out of his way to make things a lot easier for me. He gave me a tour of many other labs. On some days during lunch hour we chatted a lot about many topics. And by the end of those 10 days, I got this feeling that he was not just my ex-classmate but I had made a very good friend.
On the day I was supposed to return back to Pune, due to my horrible sense of direction, I could not realize on which side of the road I was supposed to wait for Pune-bound bus. So back I went to CAT and asked Ashwani about it. I was really touched by his kind-heartedness because instead of just telling me the direction of Pune-bound buses, he came all the way up to the bus stop. Then in a hurry to get into the bus, I could not say proper thanks to him. In those days, I was still not familiar with e-mail and never again could I say my thanks to him. With passage of time, forgot about it. Now I feel a deep sense of regret. Feels like something remains unfinished. Ashwani, sorry that neither could I express my gratitude for all the help you rendered in CAT nor could I keep in touch. You were a kind-hearted and gentle person.
May his soul rest in peace and may God give his family strength to face this difficult time. Sincere condolences from me and my husband.
Manisha Kundu-Nagata
( M.Sc. Classmate)
NIMS, Japan.