Of the people I lost this year, the loss that saddens me a lot is the sudden death of Ishwarbhai Patel. He was in his late seventies.
He took my math and science tuitions in the 10th grade.
For the 12 years that I knew him, I loved him a lot. He had a very discliplined lifestyle, with long morning and evening walks, ate only freshly cooked food at specific times of the day, spoke to the point on phone, and had somewhat radicle views on life, education, parenting and everything else. The last I met him was in 2010.
Ishwarbhai collapsed in the restroom of a park in Ahmedabad after his evening walk in early 2012. This part about dying alone and away from family haunts and hurts me the most.
After the one year that I studied with him, I kept calling him few times a year. He used to say, "I get oxygen for a few more months after talking with you." Ishwarbhai always said he had trained me "for a 100" in math and so when I got 99, I was sad.
But, it is thanks to Ishwarbhai and the way he taught me math and science, that I was able to get admission to Loyola Hall and study under another fantastic human being, Fr. Morondo.
I miss Ishwarbhai a lot today; trying to imagine his voice on other end of the line when I called him on Teacher's Day every year.
For the 12 years that I knew him, I loved him a lot. He had a very discliplined lifestyle, with long morning and evening walks, ate only freshly cooked food at specific times of the day, spoke to the point on phone, and had somewhat radicle views on life, education, parenting and everything else. The last I met him was in 2010.
Ishwarbhai collapsed in the restroom of a park in Ahmedabad after his evening walk in early 2012. This part about dying alone and away from family haunts and hurts me the most.
After the one year that I studied with him, I kept calling him few times a year. He used to say, "I get oxygen for a few more months after talking with you." Ishwarbhai always said he had trained me "for a 100" in math and so when I got 99, I was sad.
But, it is thanks to Ishwarbhai and the way he taught me math and science, that I was able to get admission to Loyola Hall and study under another fantastic human being, Fr. Morondo.
I miss Ishwarbhai a lot today; trying to imagine his voice on other end of the line when I called him on Teacher's Day every year.
