Heart Breaking

Pushpa Gupta

Bijoy Gupta

Shekhawat returned today from a relaxed, one-month sojourn at his village in Rajasthan. But his first announcement in the Garden was heartbreaking: Bijoy and Pushpa Gupta have lost their only daughter, Dolly last night. She was 36.
Earlier in the morning, Pushpa sounded her WhatsApp group with a contrite one-liner – ‘Meri beti nahin rahi’ (My daughter is no more).

Shekhawat breaks the news

Puzzled at receiving the message, Siba Prasad Maitra tried his best to get in touch with Pushpa. He was on his way to Delhi and failing to contact Pushpa, he called us from the airport to check. That was how the news reached the Club..
A pall of gloom descended on the Garden. It was collectively decided then to do away with the laughter exercises today and in the end observe a two-minute silence in the memory of the departed. Many of us had never met Dolly in person but emotionally, we could easily empathise with the Guptas and share their sense of loss.
Before long, bits and pieces of information began to emerge from those who knew or had met Dolly – that she was staying in Malad with her husband (they had no children), that she was the

Two-minute silence in the memory of the departed

older of two siblings and her brother (also married and with a son) was settled in London, that she worked with Jet Airways, that she had no history of a heart condition, BP, diabetes, cholesterol or any such life-threatening ailment…
Meanwhile, Bijoy Gupta was to call the Garden and inform us that the tragedy occurred around 9:30pm yesterday. “She died of heart stroke,” he said. “Nobody was at home. When her husband returned from work at night, he unlocked the front door only to find her lying on the bed motionless. She was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead.”
The Guptas are still in shock. They were waiting for the body to be released from hospital after postmortem and have scheduled the cremation in the evening. By then, their son would have arrived from London. “He has taken the first available flight and should be landing in Mumbai at 11:30a.m.,” Bijoy informed. “As brother and sister, they grew up together and were extremely close. This shall be his last opportunity to see his sister.”

Brother (in striped T-shirt) takes his sister on her final journey

Karun Sharma:
Oh, my God! This news has shaken us all. Loss of one's child is hard to overcome and stays in the mind for a long time. I stand by Bijoy and Pushpa Gupta in their hour of grief.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Bijoy Gupta and his wife, Pushpa have suffered a great loss in the sudden and untimely death of their daughter. It is an irreparable loss. I pray that the Almighty grants peace to the departed soul and gives Bijoy, Pushpa and their family members the courage to bear this loss. I request the Blog Monster to convey my grief to Bijoy and Pushpa.