We will always remember Akash
While I sit to write this note about someone who was dearest to me, all words seem to be such a cliché. Tears, rib shaking tears, tears that I have had to keep in check in my effort to be strong, come gushing out. Tears are more expressive and powerful than words today. And yet tears will exhaust some day, but words will stay. So here is what a young man called Akash Singh meant to me.
I met Akash as a young boy of 10 or 12, who came to Parikrma, tugging at his mother’s pallu, who was an important member of Parikrma, none other than Kalpana Singh. He said he would volunteer with us during his school holidays. All that went through my mind was how similar he was in looks to his mother and nothing else. He was not anyone special, just a little boy who could have played games during holidays but chose to spend time with the Parikrma children. I would see him on and off in the schools and paid no attention. Then he went through his studies and became a more familiar face in Parikrma.
When I needed to strengthen the Resource Mobilsation team, I wanted to have someone who breathed Parikrma and someone who I could trust. Akash’s name came to me very easily, and I offered him the job. I knew he was very young, mostly inexperienced, and totally unschooled in marketing and branding, but he could bring his entire energy to learning and growing. I knew he could be the right fit because he genuinely cared.
And ‘genuine’ is the right word for him. ‘A beautiful soul’ is another accurate term for him. He was truly God’s way of showing that there are some great human beings to make up for the muck around. He was a beacon of hope, a message that there can be simple, good human beings who live for the right things, do the correct things, and have what I value most: a sense of honour. I got to know him, and the more I knew, my admiration grew. Yes, I had to teach him from scratch, but his genuine simplicity and willingness to learn made it a pleasurable journey for me. Today, after more than 10 years at Parikrma, I can proudly say that he knows every corner of what we do and how we think. His mother, Kalpana, would say that he would spend more time with me than with her. I would say that isn’t it lovely that we now had a new generation of leaders slowly emerging so that she and I could retire one day?
It seems so grossly unfair that guys like me, who have seen a lot and are getting frayed at the edges, continue to survive while young, beautiful souls like Akash get snatched away even before they reach their prime. Such hope, such potential to do even more good, gets snuffed out, depriving the world of genuine goodness that could have changed the world. He was like my son, my colleague and even a good friend. I know he liked me, respected me and believed in me and that makes me feel so good. I, in turn, loved him, admired him and marvelled at how someone so young could be so wise. I will always remember his calm responses even at the most critical periods. I will never forget his honesty and his ability to sift the right from wrong. I knew he had true Parikrma spirit and could represent us anywhere with sincerity and resolute love.
I would tease him about his bike and his newly found love, AI. He taught me a lot about the possibilities of AI. I would stand firm in my conviction about learning from books. Just yesterday morning, I wrote a small message on a management book I got for him. A message that he will never get to see. I would pick up small, inexpensive things for him from wherever I would go, and he would receive them with such undiluted joy. We had a unique bond, that of a parent, a teacher, a mirror, a colleague and a friend. Just the other day, I was telling him how fast he was learning things, and he asked me what else he should do to learn. We had a frustrating but enjoyable time planning events and designing posters. He knew how to push back when he didn’t like something, but he did it so gently and sincerely that it was a learning experience for both of us.
I shall miss my dear friend, my colleague, my ever-growing student. Every time I open a diary page, I see his name penned for a meeting. In every presentation I made, I see his suggestion. I would proudly say that he was my ‘go-to’ person. He was my rock. He was also my conscience.
I know it is common to wish that his soul should rest in peace. I will not say that because I know he is in peace. He is that kind of guy. If there is a heaven, I know he is there, and I know he will make heaven a better place.