In respect, memory and honour.

Anil Chauhan, my driver, passed away this morning.

He epitomized all tht is right, righteous, good and kind. In the tumultuous and disturbing times we live in, he truly made me believe that there is still hope for mankind.

He was a joyful smiling soul, with unfailing devotion to work and mankind.He had a penchant for child-like observation (bhabhi, look – multiple helicopters, kuch toh chal raha hai, he showed me while driving down the sealink a few days ago). And he was a HIGHLY skilled, fast yet safe driver.

Unlike most drivers, he was the guy who was on time, every time. Ready smile. Would go out of his way to accommodate requests. He was my man-friday and go-to person, incase of a challenge. Loved telling stories, exchanging notes, comments, chit-chat.

He single-handedly has proved and lived (and he probably knew the hindi version of this line) - No work is small or big, it’s only in our doing that we can make it so. He took his work and made it much much bigger than a lot of us will ever make ours. His life is truly an inspiration.

One of the marks of a life well-lived is to leave an indelible impression on what one did – it could be innovation, it could be a repetitive task. You can be Steve Jobs, you can be Anil Chauhan - if you bring your heart and soul to what you do, and you do your darnest best, day after day, every day, then you have done your bit in this world. Spheres of influence may differ, but that does not take away from impact and greatness.

Anil is survived by his wife and two children and my heart is filled with grief for them – I can do something for them monetarily, but that is precious little. I can only hope that the circle of life and love will envelop them in the arms of light and grace, through the deeds of this great soul. I hope they will know and remember, very deeply, what a wonderful person he was. I hope and pray that his memory will stay as a guiding light to all of us who knew him, all of us who were privileged to have come in contact with him and may the Universe grant grace and peace to his soul.


PS:
My only wish is that i'd said all of this to him, face-to-face, instead of writing this today. it's heart-breakingly sad that we honour people's memory in death, but miss telling them what they mean and how important they are, while they live.