A Prince Amongst Men

Over a lifetime you meet all kinds of people, some leave a mark on your soul. Through the unbearableness of the loss one wonders what is the worse fate, to have lost him or to never have encountered such joy at all.

We lost Himanshu to COVID, or to the ineptitude in managing it, does not matter anymore. A bright, beautiful, healthy, sunflower of a person just melted away within days of contracting the disease. Almost anyone who experienced Himanshu was touched by the gentle radiance of his being, the headlong nature of his passions. Why him?

I first met Hima, a decade and a half ago, in an interview to join our yet unformed project to transform elementary education. He had a plum job at GSK, an engineer-mba with the bluechip IIM Ahmedabad stamp, willing to take a punt on a mere vision. There was sparkle in his eyes and a can-do energy you could almost touch. Nonetheless, to check his interest I handed him a book on an obscure but interesting education project and asked him to summarize it in one page. He delivered an incisive lucidly written page and a half a couple of days later. He was not just energy, he was special...

All feeling, and fun, is how you would have experienced Hima if you spent a casual evening with him. But his humble and light demeanor belied what lay beneath - an expansive intellect, a fierce will, and a profound spirituality. Over the years he poured his heart into his work, be it the setup of a teacher training college from scratch, taking the message of a new education to small towns and schools, or teaching leadership and mindfulness. Many doubted his decision to yet again drop everything and pursue a Phd, but not he. An all-in guy who followed his heart.

His unforgettable voice will stay with me forever. When I first heard him sing I felt goosebumps and a strange mix of hope and vulnerability. His voice had the carefree innocence of a mountain brook and yet the mystical intensity of a Sufi melody. Each time he sang - to light up an evening gathering, or break the monotony of our long-distance car rides visiting school after school - it would have the effect on me : hypnotic transportation to another place. People say eyes are the window to the soul, for me the way to know Hima from the inside was to experience his voice.  

Unafraidness in a gentle person is irresistible. Hima was like that. Though prone to anxiety, he was not fearful. Being the boss at work can mean people don't say things to your face, may be afraid, and relationships stay guarded. My relationship with Hima was unique in that work never got in the way, and it kept growing. Apart from our love and mutual respect, one reason was his candor. He would say things, charmingly in jest (“inanimate objects become animate in your presence...” to explain hardware malfunction at the office), or with disarming reflective thoughtfulness (“unpredictability of response scared me as a child...” to urge sharing of context before reaction). His untainted good intention coming through each time, his natural child’s curiosity and flow overcoming any foreboding that may be lurking.

In New York, whenever I visited, we met at the Central Park our mutually favorite venue. Over long walks we would talk of many things work, life, love, human potential. He would often speak of his love for his wife and the gratitude he felt for her sacrifices which enabled his career choices. A beautiful couple, hand made for each other. I remember, years ago, when they first got together sure enough Hima became elusive and hard to spend time with. I would pull his leg and tell him he had disappeared from our lives. To which tongue-in-cheek he replied in a message which i still have with me : “So what if you don’t see me in person, my heart is always with you”. The prescient irony of those words hits hard as does the endearing truth. You will always be with us, you beautiful prince of hearts.

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