Sangeetha and I lost a very close friend Dilip (Prof Dilip Veeraraghavan IIT Madras) last week. Dilip knew me from the time that I was just a young listener of music. We were more than friends; we were family and took all the liberty that one does with their own siblings. I will deeply miss all the wonderful conversations, fights, arguments and chatter that we shared especially about music, cricket, politics etc over the last almost twenty years. Dikshitar and Brindamma were probably the most discussed topics between us. Our mutual madness for both generally drove conversations.
The fact that he was visually impaired did not in anyway affect the principles of his life. There were countless times we would tell him to stop taking the bus to IIT everyday and make life easier for himself and all he will say is “ you know my socialistic leanings”. His deep care for others and their well-being was so rare.
We did go and see him in late November and I in fact told him that he should come to my concert at the Academy as he had done over the last two decades (I don’t think he missed even one) and of course the post concert next day discussion etc. Unfortunately that was not to be.
Just before leaving his home he asked us to sing Mamava Pattabhirama. I remember him waiting for me to sing the Brindamma sangathis for the pallavi as we ended the Krithi.
There are so many lovely memories of Dilip that it’s difficult to put in writing and I think they are better as a memories.
We miss you
Love
TM Krishna
Sangeetha
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I came to know Dilip as an impressionable 10 yr old lad through my brother Manoj. I've always been amazed by Dilip's
ReplyDeletecommittment to his ideals. He has always consistently practiced what he preached, from taking public transport to work,
to even refusing sophisticated medical treatment on account that the average Joe wouldnt be able to acquire let alone
afford such care and wondering what made him so special to get it.
I am even more impressed by the fact that he has quietly accomplished so much without any fuss from TNSF, etc to quietly
influencing the scores of iit janta that have had the privilege of coming into contact with him. We often speak of how
humble people can be. He was the very embodiment of humility and selflessness.
I hope that everyone he has influenced in his life, try and cultivate some of his virtues of simplicity and selflessness
in our own lives and I hope that TNSF and other social justice movements he was active in continue to fluorish for
decades to come.