Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nirmala Deshpande 79, champion of peace
Nirmala Deshpande, one of India's last Gandhians whose life was devoted to the cause of the poor and downtrodden, died in her sleep in New Delhi on May 1 morning. She was 79.
"She fought for the cause of peace throughout her life and in death we found her with her hands folded," said her former private secretary Peter Parekapetil.
"She had not visited the hospital in the recent past and did not complain of any ailments except for joint pains. She died peacefully in her sleep in the wee hours of Thursday (May 1)," Parekapetil told IANS.
Deshpande, who was a Rajya Sabha MP, in fact had kept a busy schedule in her last few days.
She was in Bihar last week to meet up with fellow Gandhians and returned early this week. Deshpande, who was popularly known as Didi, went to parliament a day earlier and interacted with fellow parliamentarians and friends.
"She had an early dinner and retired to bed. At 4 a.m. her personal attendant checked on her and she was still alive.
An hour later, we found that she had breathed her last," said Parekapetil.
As news of her death came in, long term associates, fellow Gandhians and MPs lined up to pay homage at her Shahjahan Road residence.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
"She fought for the cause of peace throughout her life and in death we found her with her hands folded," said her former private secretary Peter Parekapetil.
"She had not visited the hospital in the recent past and did not complain of any ailments except for joint pains. She died peacefully in her sleep in the wee hours of Thursday (May 1)," Parekapetil told IANS.
Deshpande, who was a Rajya Sabha MP, in fact had kept a busy schedule in her last few days.
She was in Bihar last week to meet up with fellow Gandhians and returned early this week. Deshpande, who was popularly known as Didi, went to parliament a day earlier and interacted with fellow parliamentarians and friends.
"She had an early dinner and retired to bed. At 4 a.m. her personal attendant checked on her and she was still alive.
An hour later, we found that she had breathed her last," said Parekapetil.
As news of her death came in, long term associates, fellow Gandhians and MPs lined up to pay homage at her Shahjahan Road residence.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: champion of peace, devoted, died, Gandhians, life, New Delhi, Nirmala Deshpande, Rajya Sabha MP, social service
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