Grandfather Passes Away

The 10th day ceremony will be held on 14th February, 2009. You are invited to attend it to pay your homage to my grandfather.

In a very tragic incident, my paternal grandfather, Dr. Jagdishvar Rao (aged 86) passed away today. He was suffering from cancer (diagnosed 2 months back) and had a fracture in his leg about one month back. He underwent a surgery for the fracture (which was successful) but the cancer and his loss in appetite prior to the cancer led to the reduction in his immunity and thereby post-operative complications. He had been shifted home from the hospital after the surgery but was again re-admitted in the Indo-American Cancer Hospital as his health began to deteriorate. He had been in the hospital for about 10 days. Today morning at 9.30 his condition deteriorated furthur and we had decided that we would get him home (as these already seemed to be his last few hours). But he passed away in the hospital itself at around 12.00 noon. The cremation ceremony will be held today itself in the evening.

It is very painful to see a family member with whom you have lived for so many years pass away in front of your eyes. What makes it all the more painful is that he was a very sweet person who always tried never to be of any trouble to anyone. He had his set of prejudices but he loved his grandchildren very much. He was extremely respected and admired by everyone who knew him. Even when his cancer was detected and one month later when he got bed ridden because of the fracture, his main concern was that all this had to happen at a time when one of his granddaughter's marriage was near (towards the end of Feb). And as far as I know, he was scared that his death would cause grief and was therefore willing to undergo any medication to be alive till the marriage. But fate it seems had something else in store for him.

In this moment of grief, the only positive thing I could think about is that he had a relatively painless death. Prior to getting bed-ridden because of the fracture one month back, he had been quite active. Even during the past one month, he received all the love and affection from his family members he could ask for (and he definitely earned it) and there were only few occasions where he experienced extreme pain. May his soul rest in peace. He will always be among us.

(Grandfather with wife and children on his 84th birthday)