Rajiv Sood (147-T '63) passed away recently due to cancer. The community extends its condolences to his family and friends. Vishvjit P. Singh (361-T 63) has sent us his thoughts.
I met Rajiv the day I joined school. We were in the same house and the same class and went through school together. And not just school, we went through life together. He became, very soon, my best friend. I was probably the first person to whom he introduced his future wife, Neeta, who complemented him so completely that they were as two bodies with a single mind. I met him last just days before he lost his final battle against the Cancer that took his life.
If it is true that the measure of the life of a man is his manner of how he deals with it, then Rajiv was a Prince among men. In whatever he did, he gave the best of himself. As a student, he excelled in the subjects of his choice. As a sportsman, he won the cross-country race. As a d, he was captain of the Hindi Debating Team. As a keen photographer he could invariably be seen using the facilities in the darkroom developing and enlarging his prints for the annual display of the Photographic Society.
In his professional life, he chose to give up a promising career in a Blue Chip to found his own mom and pop venture and made a success of it.
A quintessential family man, he served both his parents in their old age. His commitment to his family can be seen by his reaction to the news that he had cancer. It was as if he then worked overtime to tie up all the loose ends of his life. He worked out a programme to hand over his businesses to his sons. He made sure that both sons got married. And he even had the satisfaction of seeing the birth of his first grandchild.
The memories remain… Rajiv fooling about on stage in the Hindi Skits for Golden Night making everybody roll in the aisles with laughter, the mischievous Rajiv getting a twinkle in his eye while playing a practical joke, the faithful friend calling up everyday when I was ill in Hospital. He was a good friend but, above all, he epitomized the true Dosco Spirit. He led an ordinary Life while upholding the most extraordinary values. Goodbye, Rajiv. We know that you are still there in that Chandbagh in the sky we will all go to someday.
