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પ્રજ્ઞાચક્ષુ,સંગીતજ્ઞ શ્રી અરુણ પટેલને શ્રધ્ધાંજલિ

January 29th, 2013 Posted in અનુભૂતિ

Eulogy expressed by Navin Banker at Memorial Service/Prayer Meeting for Shri Arunbhai Patel, on January 29, 2013 from Houston, Texas.

Distinguished family members of Bankers, Dhruva, Dharia , Shah,Parikh,Patel and all other Friends and Well-Wishers of Late Shri. Arunbhai Chhotalal Patel

To-day, we all grieve passing away of our lonf-time friend Shri. Arun Patel.. It is but natural for us to

feel sadness as the soul of an Individual whom we admire, love and respect departs from us. But in fact, as we pay homage to this great human being, we are celebrating his life. Arunbhai’s life remains as a beacon of inspiration for all of us.

Lifetime of his accomplishments, his passion for Music, his wisdom, his guidance and his interests in multitude of activities will constantly remind us of his presence and motivate us to rejoice with him. He was a good Music Teacher.

It is an honor for me to have an opportunity to pay a tribute to an individual who devoted his life in pursuit of imparting true values of life.

I have been privileged to know Arunbhai since the time I migrated to Houston from India in 1979.

When we take a glimpse at his life, it immediately strikes us that he was a highly intelligent and talented man with multifaceted interests. We were of the same age. He was , may be, one year elder than me. It was so interesting to listen to him sing a beautiful song at various occasions of our family gatherins, our family-members’ marriage ceremonies and in public shows also.

As he told us,he had lost his eyes when he was only three years old. He did not see this world as we see, but he had seen the world more than us. He learnt music. He was playing on Harmonium and singing also. He worked with Late shanker-Jaikishan Group in Bombay for eight years. He had numberous rememberences with musicians and film-dignitories, especially with Shashi Kapoor. In 1980’s, when Shashi Kapoor visited New York with some Musical Show, I had a chance to see him with Arunbhai. I had shared his Apartments in Queens Area for some time also. We both used to go for shopping, watch movies and enjoy Musical Programmes. He was not able to see movie, but he had some peculiar sense to enjoy movie by his ears. He was recognizing speeches of Actors.

He had a habbit to eat apple daily. He was fond of GINGER-TEA. ( ADRKWALI CHAAY ).

In 1980s’ he was a part of Musical Institution ‘ SVARTARANG’where my younger brother Virendra, my younger sister Sangita (Who is now ancor of Azaad Radio in Dallas ), were also singing. They performed many shows.

2

He was born in 1940. He was diagnosed with MESOTHELIOMA- a type of Lung Cancer, in June 2010. Most recently, he suffered a hip-fracture and progressively became ill thereafter. He embraced his journey to his next life at 5.45 P.M. on January 25, 2013 in New York.

Arunbhai has been known for his generosity, kindness and KHUDDARI. I am sorry, my English is poor. So I do not know the meaning of this word’ KHUDDARI. He did not like to take someone’s help in his day-to-day activities. I had witnessed some incidents where he was offered assistance being a blind-man. In a restaurant, some waitor asked him to prepare his tea. He asked him –‘ Why ? Can I not prepare my tea ?’ Thank you .’This is called Khuddari.

I personally have enjoyed lively and intelligent conversations with him and experienced his deep thoughtfulness and directions. I could go on to talk about many instances to describe greatness of his life, but let me say in summation that:

Arunbhai was a man with integrity and honesty.

A man with vision and character.

A man with a strong will who fought against many odds due to several of his medical problems.

A man with great devotion to our family and to the community.

We shall remember him as a man with a kind and gentle heart and compassion for others.

Arunbhai leaves an abundance of memories for us to enjoy and cherish

With a very heavy heart, we bid farewell to our beloved Arunbhai.. May his soul rest in peace. May god give strength to all of us to bear the loss.

Thank you.

Navin Banker

6606 Demoss Dr. Aptt # 1003

Houston, Tx 77074

832-499-0399

5 Responses to “પ્રજ્ઞાચક્ષુ,સંગીતજ્ઞ શ્રી અરુણ પટેલને શ્રધ્ધાંજલિ”

  1. સૂરચક્ષુ અરુણભાઇ, બેંકર પરિવારની સંગીતની આંખ અને પાંખ હતા. હતાં. છેલ્લાં પાંત્રીસ વર્ષથી સ્વતંત્ર રહીને પણ હાર્મોનીયમના સાત સૂરોની જેમ અમારા છ ભાઇબેન સાથે સતત સંકળાયેલા હતાં.દરેકની કલા-રુચિ વિષે સજાગ હતા. આજે એમની ચિર નિંદ્રા સૂરીલી અને શાંતિભરી બની રહે એ જ ઇશ્વરને પ્રાર્થના.
    દેવિકા ધ્રુવ

  2. email received from Ashish Banker—

    Beautiful eulogy Navin uncle. I know you were best buddies and had a
    very close connection starting from the time you shared together as
    room partners.

    It’s important for us all to remember he would have wanted us to
    celebrate his departure to a better place. He’s much more comfortable
    now: I can imagine him smiling where he is now, sitting in the sun drinking his ginger
    tea (finally getting it the way he wanted each time)- preaching to us to relax,
    stay positive, listen to his music and celebrate his memories. It’s ok
    to cry.

    Ashish Banker

  3. from Ashish Banker–

    -When I was a baby, he would pick me up with his feet to my chest high in the air to make me giggle and laugh.

    -When I was near 5-6 years old, during our walks to 69 street (from Roosevelt back around to Woodside Ave) he would always buy me ice cream on the last stretch of the walk back on Woodside.

    -In my teenage years, we would walk together to Alley Pond Park. He always remained so light on his feet. We would hang out and just sit on park benches or put a sheet on the grass. We would talk as though we were just friends.

    -There are so many old photos and videos from birthday parties in the 80’s, he was always around for as long as I could remember. His hair may have become grayer, but his smile always remained the same.

    -He cherished the relationship he had with our parents. He was such an outgoing person; he knew that he had a different and special relationship with each one of us. He always loved kids. He would always talk about us siblings and Niki/Anand as his most precious ones.

    -His apartment always smelled like cologne or mothballs. His place was always so clean. He enjoyed keeping the radio on in the living all the time: his low volume classical music and crisp AM radio settings set an elegant tone at his place.

  4. kOKILA pARIKH says:

    ARUNBHAI,
    YOUR CHOSEN PATH IS TAKING YOU IN EATERNAL PEACE. YOU WILL BE GREATLY MISSED BY ALL MY FAMILY MEMBERS.YOU HAVE WALKED WITH US IN ALL IMP. EVENTS & WITNESS FOR OUR HAPPINESS AS WELL AS BUMPY RIDES SOME TIME. YOU ARE OUR MANTOOR & INSPIRATION FOR POSITIVE APROCH FOR LIVING HAPPILY.
    MAY GOD BLESS YOU FOR PEACE OF YOUR SOUL & HAPPY NEXT LIFE.
    KOKILA & PRAKASH PARIKH

  5. NavinBanker says:

    from Amit Dharia–
    Arunbhai was one of those unique individuals whose life inspired me and many others to be better in face of adversities. He was a dear family member and a teacher. He will be missed by all of us. His departure is especially hard for Sangita. He was more than a brother to her. Arunbhai and I had many long discussions about life, purpose of life, meaning of relationships, struggles and survivals. He was highly educated and his general knowledge was impressive. It was always thought provoking to talk with him. He had an astute sense of measuring up people. He saw this world more without sight than I will ever be able to with eyes ! I cannot find my way with GPS. He was able to navigate on roads he had never travelled on. I do not sing but last time he visited he tutored me on singing Surdasji’s famous bhajan..Darshan Do… Yesterday, Arunbhai received sight to see Him! Rest in peace, Arunbhai.

    From Sangita—
    Rest in peace Arunbhai! You are in better place. Wish You would have waited for few more hours. I know you would have but in this case, no one has a choice. I am coming to NY to say good bye in your final jouney. Feel very sad about not being there yesterday.
    Our whole family will miss you and pray for you. You were a great brother, friend, philosopher and a guide to me. I will greatly miss you..

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