Baba Is No More

In the chronology of events ,this post should have been on the 1st of May . This is regarding the passing away of my father-in-law , Shami's father , whom we affectionately called 'Baba', at his age of 90 after a brief illness.

Baba had a very healthy life throughout . He never had any major illnesses except for colds . I remember his attacks of cold because of his very loud sneezes. At this age he was regular in his walks and had a very disciplined life. Being an aeronautical engineer it was always a pleasure to talk about his work and his comments on the launch of the giant Airbus 380 . He was a voracious reader and would interact on any topic from astronomy, history to sports . The great moments were when watching News on TV with him , especially his use of choicest words to criticize politicians. After retiring from Indian Airlines , he was working for Air Works for quite a long time and even after retiring from there he used to be consulted on an aircraft's final fitness.

Till last year he has accompanied us on a few trips and last May he surprised us by climbing the steep stairs of the sajja kothi at Panhala with the enthusiasm of a child . I remember him many years back, I think it was 1992 , on our trip to Alibag and Kihim ,he had enthusiastically ventured out for a swim in the sea with Rahul. It is really rare and fortunate for those who have had the company of both grand parents till the age of almost 25 . Rahul and Supriya lost one grandmother in November 2007 and now a grandfather .

We do miss him a lot .